While the interior ministers met in Stockholm to discuss migration in an informal meeting, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer welcomed Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte to Vienna on Thursday to discuss the same issue. Both politicians opposed the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to Schengen in December and their current statements show they are maintaining their stances.
Chancellor Nehammer and Prime Minister Rutte emphasized the close ties between Austria and the Netherlands. “We are united in our objection to the extension of Schengen at this moment”, announced the Austrian chancellor, quoted by “Kronen Zeitung”.
The Netherlands and Austria want to jointly seek solutions in the fight against illegal migration at the extraordinary EU summit scheduled for early next month. Nehammer said it is important that this summit meeting is taking place.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Thursday, during his visit to Chancellor Karl Nehammer, that he saw a “consensus in the making” in the EU, but believes that more EU summits will be needed to resolve these issues.
When the EU-Turkey refugee deal was agreed in 2016, it was easier, the Dutch prime minister said. Now, he said, the EU has a multitude of problems, including Schengen, Frontex, the Dublin system and repatriations. “We have to return to the Dublin rules,” Rutte demanded, arguing that otherwise “Schengen will not survive”.
In his turn, Nehammer reiterated the request for financial support from the EU for Bulgaria and Greece for the protection of the EU’s external borders. Nehammer said that Austria, like the Netherlands, had the same problems with the transfer of refugees.
In December, Austria and the Netherlands opposed Bulgaria’s accession to Schengen, while in the case of Romania, only Austria objected, but the two countries are treated as a package.
The other days, during a visit to the Bulgarian-Turkish border on Monday, Nehammer asked for EU funds worth two billion euros for the expansion of Bulgaria’s border fence. Under the Dublin system, the first country a refugee arrives in is responsible for asylum procedures, but in practice the system has not worked well in the EU.
On the other hand, the European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, rejected the request of the Chancellor of Austria, Karl Nehammer, who had asked for the construction of a wall on the border between Bulgaria and Turkey with funds from the EU budget.
“There are no funds for such a thing in the European Union budget. Therefore, if we give money for walls and fences, there is no money left available for other things,” Ylva Johansson said before an informal meeting of EU interior ministers in Stockholm, on Thursday.
In retort, Nehammer accused the European Commission, which does not want to fund fences, of having an “ideological approach”. The specifications for the protection of the EU’s external borders also include structural measures. “It is not fair if Bulgaria is left alone with the costs,” says Nehammer, arguing that , in fact, Bulgarian border guards also protect the borders of Austria and the Netherlands.
FM Aurescu talks to Dutch counterpart
The Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bogdan Aurescu, met yesterday, in Sibiu, with his Dutch counterpart, Wopke Bastiaan Hoekstra. The discussion agenda included as a matter of priority the subject of Romania’s accession to the Schengen area and the ongoing steps to advance this file.
Aurescu thanked his Dutch counterpart for the support from the Netherlands and reiterated that our country’s accession “will contribute to strengthening the security of the entire EU and will give credibility to the Union”.
Aurescu also emphasized Romania’s openness to work together with all European partners to find effective solutions to the problem of illegal migration, “even if Romania does not accept artificial connections between this subject and accession to the Schengen area”.
In his turn, Hoekstra reiterated his active support for Romania’s accession, which is prepared in this regard, according to a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Dutch minister voices appreciation for Romania’s position and for the correct way in which our country applies the Dublin regulation – a topic of interest for his country.
The two ministers agreed to cooperate closely on the topic of solutions at the European level regarding the more efficient management of the problem of illegal migration, including from the perspective of its external dimension in the relationship with third countries – sources of this type of migration, the release states.