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Innsbruck / Vienna (APA) – EU Interior Ministers will discuss measures to strengthen EU migration policy on Thursday in Innsbruck. Issues of external border protection, the establishment of return centers in third countries, the strengthening of police cooperation against traffickers and the fight against anti-Semitism are on the agenda of the informal meeting
use. The introduction of so-called return centers would be a contribution, according to Kickl. A corresponding working paper from Austria has already been discussed at the Strategic Committee on Immigration, Borders and Asylum (SCIFA) in Brussels on Monday. "There is a difference between a positive asylum decision and a negative asylum decision, between people who have resident status and those who stay illegally in Austria, "said the interior minister to the APA. EU leaders have already pointed out in their final declaration at the recent EU summit in Brussels that they are in the EU illegally. Austria is now proposing the establishment of return centers in third countries outside the EU on the basis of existing EU directives. These should be in line with European standards and international and European human rights standards, according to the document of the EU Presidencies
Migrants with a notice of asylum definitive negative or an expired residence permit must be transferred there before returning to their country of origin. States wishing to set up return centers could receive incentives or support from EU border authorities. An "innovative approach based on the existing legal framework" is mentioned in the Ministry of the Interior. In Innsbruck, Kickl wants to explore the interest of his colleague Interior Minister in a pilot project
In addition, this week mainly concerns a more effective protection of external borders and a "system of defense". crisis-resistant asylum ". The debate on regional landing platforms and landing centers in third countries outside the EU, initiated at the recent EU summit, must also be pursued. "I do not think it's any chance," Kickl said on the eve of the meeting. "Let's go step by step." The EU must turn a lot of screws here, for example by incentives with economic policy.
On the sidelines of the Council, Thursday morning will also be a trilateral conversation between Kickl and the German Minister of the Interior Horst Seehofer and come to the Italian Minister of the Interior Matteo Salvini. This meeting and another bilateral meeting between Seehofer and Salvini may also concern the repatriation of refugees and migrants planned by Germany, already registered in another country, as well as the possible consequences on the cross – border traffic between Italy and Germany. Germany, Austria and Italy
Salvini wants to speak in Austria but especially on strengthening the protection of the external borders and on a new regulation of the rescue of refugees in the Mediterranean. The Italian Interior Minister announced this week, in the future, not only private lifeguards, but also ships of international missions to prohibit docking in Italian ports. With the ban on sending refugee ships to Italy, the Italian government has recently fueled the European debate on asylum. "In Innsbruck, we want to defend the EU's external borders, and we hope that Europe will finally wake up," Salvini said before the meeting.
The fight against trafficking is another goal. Austria will present its Joint Operational Office (JOO), created in 2016 to fight against smuggling of people, which operates across borders and cooperates with Europol and the Frontex European Border Agency. It will be discussed how this model can be developed at European level, said the Ministry of the Interior.
At a working lunch, the theme "Promotion of European values and measures against anti-Semitism and for the protection of Jewish institutions in Europe" on the agenda. Interior ministers want to counter the exodus of Jewish citizens induced by anti-Semitism that can be detected in some states. It will focus on better physical protection of Jewish communities and institutions and a more effective response to anti-Semitism, including on the Internet.
The informal meeting of Justice Ministers on Friday will also deal with electronic evidence, improvements in judicial cooperation in civil matters and the field of mutual recognition in criminal matters, as stated in the letter of invitation of the Minister of the Interior Kickl and Justice Minister Josef Moser (ÖVP)
The EU ministerial meeting will be accompanied by strict security checks around the Congress of Innsbruck. The airspace above Tyrol is also increasingly being watched. Since the beginning of the week, there have also been tighter controls on the borders of Tyrol with Germany and Italy. At the intersections of the Brenner and Kufstein / Kiefersfelden motorways, visual inspections are carried out at the entrance to Austria.
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