“It is true that illegal immigrants are not in Hungary, but 80 percent come to Austria via Hungary, then we have 109,000 asylum applications and Hungary has 45,” Nehammer said Friday at a joint press conference with Orban and Serbian President Aleksandar. Vuči & cacute; in Vienna.
Nehammer spoke after Orban used a “question” from Hungarian broadcaster MTV’s self-praise on immigration policy, which was peppered with criticism of the European Union and Soros. “We are the only place without immigrants in Europe,” boasted the right-wing prime minister. This is due to the legal and physical barriers to immigration. Migrants can only enter the country after a positive asylum decision. There is also a fence on the border. “I’m not saying that immigrants can jump over it sometimes, but we can stop most of them and they can’t even come to Austria as immigrants,” Orban said.
The Hungarian Prime Minister reiterated his criticism of the “forced distribution” of migrants within Europe, which was decided by the EU’s interior ministers. This is an “invitation” for immigrants to go. Therefore, Hungary will find ways and means so that it does not have to implement this decision.
“Protecting Europe from migratory pressures”
In his opening statement, Orban praised Hammer and reported that he “defended” Hungary’s position on the EU’s Asylum and Migration Charter at the most recent EU summit. “We are protecting Europe from migratory pressure,” the Hungarian Prime Minister emphasized. Without Hungary and Serbia, Austria, Germany and the Netherlands would face “hundreds of thousands more immigrants than today”.
Nehammer had a specially printed dossier handed out at the press conference, showing the results of the Triple Tops so far. “Along with Hungary and Serbia, Austria has significantly tightened the asylum brake,” the chancellor said. Specifically, he led the fight against people smugglers with Hungary and thanked Serbia for ending visa-free travel for Tunisians and Indians. “This immediately led to a significant decrease in the number of asylum applications in Austria,” he said of the Serbian president’s directives. According to figures distributed by the Federal Chancellery, asylum applications from January to May are 20 percent less than in the same period last year, and even in May they are 30 percent less.
The tangible result of the first summit hosted by Nehammer was the signing of a four-page memorandum of cooperation in the field of police work by the relevant interior ministers. Specifically, it was agreed to form a joint border protection task force and intensify cooperation in combating human smugglers. The goal is to smash structures, not just catch the “small fish”. The note also refers to opening up to “affected countries along the migration route.” According to the Federal Chancellor, Austria also plans to send more police officers to the Hungarian-Serbian border. From the current 20 officials, the number can be increased to 70.
The summit was attended not only by a large number of journalists from the two partner countries, but also by the Ministers of Interior and Foreign Affairs. It was not clear how the cooperation would continue. Among the participants, only Vuči & cacute; He stated that another summit was planned “in Belgrade or Budapest”. According to observers, Austria in particular must have been interested in expanding the format, since Nehammer had to face heavy criticism for his collaboration with politicians Orbán and Vučić; Connect in.
“Shame on you” – Rove
After human rights organizations such as Amnesty International, Asylum Coordination Austria, the Green Party and opposition parties SPÖ and FPÖ had previously criticized the summit, there were noisy protests at Ballhausplatz when the state guests arrived. Nehammer had to kill Urban, Fauci, and Kakut; We were escorted on the red carpet to the chancellery with shouts of “Shame on you”. The host himself was also abused over the megaphone by dozens of activists from the NGOs SOS Balkanroute and Grandmas against the right (“Nehammer, you gangsters, will soon go out the window”).
On Friday, NEOS was the latest parliamentary party to join the barbs of the summit with Orbán and Vuči & cacute; in. Neuhammer MP Stephanie Crisper complained that Nehamer was “continued to be driven across the ring by lawbreakers and deceived”. “In his fear of what the ÖVP will face in the next few days and in the next elections”, the chancellor “kicks” and thus damages Austria’s reputation in Europe.
Nehammer first hosted the format, which was launched last fall to combat irregular migration on the Balkan route. For the first time Nehammer, Orbán, Vuči & cacute; Met in Budapest last October. A month later, a meeting followed in Belgrade. The most significant outcome at the time was Serbia’s commitment to ending visa-free travel for nationals of India and Tunisia.
