Edited: APC         Photo: Routers

BERLIN/VIENNA, June 14th – Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and German Minister of the Interior Horst Seehofer want to establish cooperation at the regional level with Italy in order to prevent illegal migration. Austria, Germany and Italy want to co-operate within the “Axis of the Willing” in refugee policy, they announced in Berlin.

Seehofer and Kurz agree that the strengthening of the EU’s external border would make unnecessary controls at borders within the EU.

At the same time, Sebastian Kurz confirmed to the media Austria, with several EU countries, plans to establish centers for the reception of migrants outside the Union where they would be provided with protection, but not a chance for a better life, he said.

Asked about the existence of such a project on ORF’s public television, he said efforts are being made to establish protection centers outside the EU where refugees can be accommodated, but where they would not be offered “a better life in Central Europe”.
“This is a project where we work with a small number of countries very confidently to increase its feasibility,” Kurz told ORF.

Kurz did not specify who these centers would be intended for, but his Danish counterpart Lars Loke Rasmussen suggested last week that he would talk to some countries, including Austria, about the opening of “joint centers” for migrants who do not have a condition to seek asylum in the EU or requests for asylum were rejected.

In the last few days, the Austrian media mentioned Albania as a country that could accept these centers.