SOURCES Interior Minister Lucian Bode goes to Vienna for talks with Austrian Interior Minister / Gerhard Karner announced that Austria will not agree to Schengen expansion

Interior Minister Lucian Bode will travel to Austria in the coming days, where he will meet Austrian Interior Minister Gergard Karner, after the latter announced last week that Austria would not agree to an extension of the Schengen area, government sources told G4Media.ro.

„The system is dysfunctional. The situation in Europe shows very clearly that the protection of external borders has failed,” the Austrian interior minister explained on Friday, as quoted by the Kurier and Der Standard publications.

The meeting comes ahead of an extraordinary Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Council meeting scheduled for Friday on illegal migration. The Austrian press is also talking about Minister Bode going to Vienna next week, but G4Media sources say the meeting will take place much earlier.

„The diplomatic message from the Austrians is that they would like anti-migration support from both the Commission and Romania. Hungary does not accept any migrants and sends them as a package to Austria,” sources in Brussels explained to G4Media.ro.

Background

The trigger for Austria’s resistance is the flow of refugees pouring into Central Europe via the Balkans. More than 90,000 migrants have already been apprehended in Austria this year, 75,000 of whom have not been registered in any other EU country, according to the Austrian Interior Ministry.

„If a system doesn’t work, it can’t be expanded,” Karner said. Austria is doing this because the security of the people in the country is also at stake, the Austrian official added.

This week, the European Commission came out in favour of extending the Schengen area without controls to include Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania.

The decisive vote is expected to take place in Brussels on 8 December and unanimity is required. Enlargement will therefore be a hot topic at next week’s special meeting of interior ministers, especially with Croatia set to join the Schengen area.

However, there will not be a special vote for Croatia, as the Czech rotating presidency of the EU Council wants accession to be voted on as a block for the three countries – Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia.

So far, only the Dutch government has been reluctant to welcome Romania and Bulgaria into Schengen, the first time an Austrian government official has come out publicly to announce his country’s opposition.

Interior Minister Lucian Bode thanked Austrian Minister Gerhard Karner in January for his support in the Schengen accession process, according to an official statement.

The trigger for Austria’s resistance is the flow of refugees pouring into Central Europe via the Balkans. More than 90,000 migrants have already been apprehended in Austria this year, 75,000 of whom have not been registered in any other EU country, according to the Austrian Interior Ministry.

„If a system doesn’t work, it can’t be expanded,” Karner said. Austria is doing this because the security of the people in the country is also at stake, the Austrian official added.

This week, the European Commission came out in favour of extending the Schengen area without controls to include Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania.

The decisive vote is expected to take place in Brussels on 8 December and unanimity is required. Enlargement will therefore be a hot topic at next week’s special meeting of interior ministers, especially with Croatia set to join the Schengen area.

However, there will not be a special vote for Croatia, as the Czech rotating presidency of the EU Council wants accession to be voted on as a block for the three countries – Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia.

So far, only the Dutch government has been reluctant to welcome Romania and Bulgaria into Schengen, the first time an Austrian government official has come out publicly to announce his country’s opposition.

Interior Minister Lucian Bode thanked Austrian Minister Gerhard Karner in January for his support in the Schengen accession process, according to an official statement.