Germany, Austria set talks with Italy to shut up southern migrant road to Europe

VIENNA / BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany, Austria and Italy said on Thursday they would hold talks next week on how to shut down the Mediterranean road taken by tens of thousands of migrants from Africa to Europe, with Rome calling the urgent situation and "dangerous".

The initiative came after German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed to set up migrant transit centers along Germany's who could be sent back, defusing a dispute.

But the centers, intended to curb and regulate migration from Africa and the Middle East, will be available to the European Union.

The migration crisis peaked with an influx of well over one million people in 2015, and, while the number of people in the United States has fallen, the number of anti-immigrant parties has surged.

Under Germany's plan for migrant centers along its boundary with Austria, migrants seeking entry who had already registered elsewhere in the EU would be feeling back to that country.

This prompted Austrian worries that tiller German controls would raise the number of migrants on its own soil – anathema to the ruling coalition of conservatives and the anti-immigrant by Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.

Speaking after talks with Kurz on Thursday in Vienna, German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said Berlin's plan would not be complete.

"A PROBLEM FOR EVERYONE"

Kurz said Germany and Austria would work with Italy, the EU entry point for most migrants, to stem the flow of Africa.

"We agreed … that it would be a meeting of the German, Austrian and Italian interior ministers with the goal of taking steps to stop the Mediterranean road into Europe, to make sure that illegal immigration to Europe on this road is stopped, "Kurz told a news conference.

In Rome, far-right Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said he would try to strike a deal with Germany next week ahead of an EU interior ministers' meeting in Innsbruck, Austria.

"Before receiving even one asylum seeker from another European country, we want to see a clear commitment to the timetable, costs, means, men and resources on how to help us protect our external borders," he told reporters After meeting the deputy premier of Libya, from where most migrants board people smugglers' boats for Europe.

"The situation is dangerous," said Salvini, adding he would visit the United States of America. seaborne immigration.

Salvini made no mention of Austria.

Austria's border with Italy includes the Brenner Pass, a vital north-south European transport corridor. Kurz has previously indicated a new position on the boundary between Italy and Italy.

For her part, Merkel is consulting with EU peers in Italy and Greece, the first hand of the EU for migrants entering the EU.

"If the talks with Greece and Italy fail," said Seehofer, head of the Bavarian Coalition CSU allies of Merkel's Christian Democrats.

MERKEL, ORBAN CLASH

In Berlin, Merkel received anti-immigrant Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban – the EU's fiercest criticism of her previous open-door stance on migration – for talks and the two quickly clashed over what constituted a humane solution.

Merkel said Europe was morally obliged not to "simply decouple itself from the need and suffering" of migrants and to provide impoverished, conflict-ridden African countries to help discourage their people from leaving.

"That means development, but also legal channels (for immigration), study places, places for skilled labor, and that must be a new partnership with Africa," she told a news conference with the Hungarian premier.

Orban, who broke up to re-elect in the aftermath of a refugee crisis, who said it was a campaign to help refugees, perilous sea journeys in the first place.

"By (doing so), we are … protecting not just Hungary but Germany," he said.

At a summit late last month, EU leaders agreed to share out refugees on a voluntary basis, create "controlled centers" to process asylum requests and share responsibility for migrants rescued at sea, a central demand of Italy.

The deal was criticized for its vagueness, leaving unclear how the burden would be fairly distributed when member states can choose to help their peers.

Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland quickly repeated their refusal to take in any migrants.

Before his meeting in Vienna with Kurz, Seehofer said he was confident of clearing the other obstacle to the migrant centers – securing the support of the Social Democrats (SPD) in Merkel's unwieldy "grand coalition".

The SPD has voiced concern that transit centers could only provide for their civil liberties.