Gerhard Karner, Austria’s interior minister, has declared that his country will not support an enlargement of the Schengen region at this time due to inadequate border controls. Following Ylva Johansson’s declaration that it was time for Bulgaria, Croatia, and Romania to ratify the accord, he made his statement shortly after.
Karner stated in an interview with Austria’s Kurier newspaper on Friday that it would be inappropriate to vote on an expansion at this time, given the dysfunction of the external border system. The minister brought up the continued migration across the Balkans. He stated that just since the beginning of this year, Austria has detained over 90,000 illegal immigrants.
Expanding a failing system won’t work, Karner cautioned. The “protection of external [Schengen] borders has failed,” he said.
According to the source, a prospective enlargement of the borderless region might prove to be a divisive subject at the EU interior ministers’ special conference next week.
Following Johansson’s Wednesday argument that it was “high time to welcome” Bulgaria, Croatia, and Romania into the Schengen area and urging other EU member states to support their entry, an Austrian official made the remark immediately after.
The vote is anticipated to take place on December 8, and in order for the decision to be approved, support from each of the 27 nations must be unanimity.
The Schengen region, which was established in 1995, now includes all EU members with the exception of the three nations indicated above, Ireland, and Cyprus. The zone also includes Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland, four more non-member countries.
Controls at the borders between signatories were removed as a result of the Schengen accord.
To stop a major influx of asylum seekers into their countries, several countries, including Austria, decided to reinstate them during the 2015 migrant crisis.
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