EU Must Convince Southern Members Over Border Guard Plan: Austria

Vienne, Sept 19 (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Sep, 2018 ) :The EU must convince Italy, Spain and Greece to back a plan to bolster the bloc's external borders, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said Wednesday as bloc leaders met in Salzburg to discuss the controversial issue of migration.

EU Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker "has put forward a proposal to widen the mandate of the Frontex (border agency) and make repatriations (of refugees) more effective," Kurz said in an interview with the Austrian daily Der Standard.

"Some member states are still rather sceptical. It's our task to convince them," said Kurz, whose country currently holds the European Union's rotating presidency.

As EU leaders gathered for Wednesday's summit, EU Council chief Donald Tusk warned that leaders must "stop the migration blame game".

Noting that the number of people entering Europe illegally had dropped dramatically since the 2015 migration crisis, Tusk had the following message for heads of government: "Instead of taking political advantage of the situation, we should focus on what works and just get on with it".

"We can no longer be divided between those who want to solve the problem of illegal migrant flows and those who want to use it for political gain," Tusk added, alluding to the anti-immigration parties that made gains in several recent European elections.

Kurz said that Italy, Spain and Greece, as key entry points into the bloc for many refugees fleeing across the Mediterranean, are sceptical about the plans to beef up the Frontex border agency.

"It's about their sovereignty rights, as well as concerns about the improved registration of migrants," the Austrian leader said.

Under the EU Commission's proposals, the number of Frontex border guards will be increased to 10,000 by 2020 and they will be able to intervene to better regulate the influx.

Germany and France in particular advocate improving the system for registering migrants.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has also vowed to oppose the EU plan.

The fiercely anti-immigration premier said the plan would "strip Hungary of its right to protect its own borders".

"We will not give up our right to defend a border. No one can take an iota of that away from us," he told parliament in Budapest on Monday.