Austrian Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka has urged the EU to extend the country's border controls. Citing security concerns, Sobotka said he "simply needs to know who is coming to our country."
Image: Imago/Eibner Europa
Advertisement
In an interview with German daily Die Welt on Wednesday, Austrian Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka said that while external EU borders could not be adequately protected, Vienna would continue to take national measures.
"In terms of public order and internal security, I simply need to know who is coming to our country," Sobotka said, adding that he was optimistic that Brussels would give the necessary consent.
The EU Commission is due next week to announce its decision on a renewed extension of border controls under Article 29 of the Schengen border code.
At the beginning of February the EU Council of Ministers already allowed Germany and four other countries - Austria, Sweden, Denmark and Norway - to extend border controls for three more months until mid-May.
The reason for the extension, the Council said, was the danger of so-called "secondary migration" between EU countries and the burden on individual states through the influx of refugees from the Syrian war zones that had crossed Turkey and the Balkan route.
Austria and Germany introduced border controls for the first time in September 2015 at the height refugee crisis.
How did Europe's refugee crisis start?
From escalating violence in the Middle East and Africa to incoherent asylum policy at home - DW looks at how the EU has found itself in the midst of a refugee crisis.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Fleeing war and poverty
In late 2014, with the war in Syria approaching its fourth year and Islamic State making gains in the north of the country, the exodus of Syrians intensified. At the same time, others were fleeing violence and poverty in countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Somalia, Niger and Kosovo.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Seeking refuge over the border
Vast numbers of Syrian refugees had been gathering in border-town camps in neighboring Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan since 2011. By 2015, with the camps full to bursting and residents often unable to find work or educate their children, more and more people decided to seek asylum further afield.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
A long journey on foot
In 2015 an estimated 1.5 million people made their way on foot from Greece towards western Europe via the "Balkan route". The Schengen Agreement, which allows passport-free travel within much of the EU, was called into question as refugees headed towards the wealthier European nations.
Image: Getty Images/M. Cardy
Desperate sea crossings
Tens of thousands of refugees were also attempting the perilous journey across the Mediterranean on overcrowded boats. In April 2015, 800 people of various nationalities drowned when a boat traveling from Libya capsized off the Italian coast. This was to be just one of many similar tragedies - by the end of the year, nearly 4,000 refugees were reported to have died attempting the crossing.
Image: Reuters/D. Zammit Lupi
Pressure on the borders
Countries along the EU's external border struggled to cope with the sheer number of arrivals. Fences were erected in Hungary, Slovenia, Macedonia and Austria. Asylum laws were tightened and several Schengen area countries introduced temporary border controls.
Image: picture-alliance/epa/B. Mohai
Closing the open door
Critics of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's "open-door" refugee policy claimed it had made the situation worse by encouraging more people to embark on the dangerous journey to Europe. By September 2016, Germany had also introduced temporary checks on its border with Austria.
Image: Reuters/F. Bensch
Striking a deal with Turkey
In early 2016, the EU and Turkey signed an agreement under which refugees arriving in Greece could be sent back to Turkey. The deal has been criticized by human rights groups and came under new strain following a vote by the European Parliament in November to freeze talks on Turkey's potential accession to the EU.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/A. Altan
No end in sight
With anti-immigration sentiment in Europe growing, governments are still struggling to reach a consensus on how to handle the continuing refugee crisis. Attempts to introduce quotas for the distribution of refugees among EU member states have largely failed. Conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere show no signs coming to an end, and the death toll from refugee sea crossings is on the rise.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/S. Mitrolidis
8 images1 | 8
Exemption from redistibution program
Almost two years on since the height of the refugee crisis, Vienna is also seeking an exemption or "postponement" of the EU refugee distribution program.
The system requires EU member states to accept a mandatory and proportional distribution of asylum-seekers who arrive in other member nations.
After accepting around 90,000 refugees in 2015, the EU gave Austria a temporary exception from the relocation program until 2017. However, the country is now expected to accept 2,000 people seeking asylum from Greece and Italy.
Opposition in eastern Europe
The two-year plan, which expires this September, was supposed to cover 160,000 migrants across Europe. Yet the agreement included only a small portion of total migrant arrivals in the EU.
Moreover, opposition from eastern EU members, such as Hungary and Poland, has stymied the agreement's implementation. Fewer than 14,500 asylum-seekers have been redistributed thus far from Greece and Italy, two arrival points for the MediterraneanSea crossings favored by Middle Eastern and African migrants.
