The madness of the governors / Minister Karner, the top soldier of Texingtal

Editorial published by the Austrian newspaper THE STANDARDquoted by Agerpres:

Austria’s singular attitude demonstrates the total lack of any purpose. National vetoes have a tradition in the European Union. As long as there are political areas in the EU where unanimity is required, some states occasionally attempt to impose their interests through this tactic.

However, Austria’s unilateral stance against Romania’s accession to the Schengen area – the Netherlands’ refusal was intended to only prevent Bulgaria’s accession – is something unique. If a government seems to be blackmailing the rest of the Union and incurring their wrath, it should at least know what it’s aiming for and signal to other states how it might get its consent.

The explanations of the Minister of the Interior, Gerhard Karner, and his friends from the People’s Party reveal no purpose. Yes, Austria is dissatisfied with the EU’s policy towards asylum seekers and has serious reasons for it. But no one knows how to explain the link between the new wave of asylum requests with Schengen, or even with Romania; hardly any refugees come to Austria from this country. When Karner vaguely explains that the timing for the extension of the Schengen area is false, why did he agree to Croatia’s accession?

The government declares that the European asylum system is a failure – and perhaps it is right – but does not formulate any concrete claim to the EU Commission. The fact that enhanced external border protection is the central pillar of the Schengen system is simply ignored. And one of the reform measures that would quickly relieve Austria, namely the distribution of asylum seekers across the EU, is vehemently rejected.

Worse still: the country that allows refugees to transit, thus favoring “asylum tourism” loudly condemned by the ÖVP, is Hungary. However, unlike the pro-European government in Bucharest, Hungary’s authoritarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, is not being punished by Chancellor Karl Nehammer, but courted to no avail.

Why provoke the rest of Europe, the many large and small businesses that make their money in Romania, why complicate their lives and make fun of political capital in the EU – not at all? Even the mention of the upcoming elections in the Lower Austrian states does not matter: none of the voters will reward the ÖVP just because he makes it difficult for Romanian carers to access and condemns the trucks to even longer waiting times at the border crossing .

The veto is symptomatic of a party that under Sebastian Kurz had an unscrupulous attitude, but usually acted methodically, but today renounces the moral aspect and reason. And Karner, the lead soldier of Texingtal, is a perfect symbolic figure for his politics which is still honored by the vote of only a fifth of the electorate.

Yes, the ÖVP and SPÖ parties need to think quickly about how to stop the current high flight of the FPÖ, both in their own interests and in the interests of the country. But this will not succeed with a crude plan of an anti-European course. (Translation: Imola Stănescu)