SPÖ leader Pamela Rendi-Wagner calls on the government, in view of the rising asylum figures in Austria, “to end its inaction at EU level and to find common solutions”. She sees an “urgent need for action” in the government and calls for a “coalition of those affected with the EU Commission”. Solutions are needed “instead of show politics, division and escalation”. “2015 must not be repeated,” said Rendi-Wagner.
The rising asylum numbers would show that the asylum policy of Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and Interior Minister Karl Nehammer (both VP) “has failed across the board”. “No state can deal with uncontrolled migration on its own; the states concerned need to act quickly together with the EU Commission,” said Rendi-Wagner. Kurz and Nehammer urgently need to initiate such a coalition and get the EU Commission on board. Because only together can it be possible to establish control over illegal migration.
According to Rendi-Wagner, such a “coalition of those affected” should implement a series of measures, including the establishment of UNHCR-compliant procedural centers outside the EU, increased efforts in negotiating return agreements and cooperation with Afghanistan’s neighboring states to take in refugees. This “coalition” should also strive for the continuation of EU cooperation with Turkey and “better control of the European external borders”. One shouldn’t leave this issue to right-wing populists like Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
VP club boss August Wöginger criticized Rendi-Wagner’s demands: It was “simply not possible to agree” that the SPÖ criticized the government because of the current migration situation, “but at the same time vehemently for easier naturalization, more social assistance for migrants and a deportation freeze Afghanistan “, said Wöginger.
