EU warns Austria that plan to cap asylum seekers is unlawful

Austria’s interior minister is defending her country’s decision to impose caps on asylum-seekers starting Friday, despite a warning from the European Union’s top immigration official that the move contravenes global law.

“As far as Austria is concerned I have to say I don’t like this decision, we are questioning whether it is within European law, and we will have a friendly discussion”, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker told a news conference, according to Deutsche Welle‎. Just 80 asylum applications will be accepted each day at Austria’s southern border, after which it will shut.

In addition, Vienna is limiting the daily number of people transiting Austria to seek asylum in a neighbouring country to 3,200.

Croatia’s Vlado Dominic said Thursday that Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, Macedonia and Austria have agreed that the main screening of the migrants would take place in Macedonia on the border with Greece and that those who pass the control will be transported under police escort all the way to the Austrian border.

Austria has largely served as a conduit into Germany for the migrants who have streamed through the Balkans and onto its territory since the two countries threw open their borders to them in September.

A central European diplomat told journalists the number of asylum seekers arriving from Turkey needs to drop from as many as 2,000 a day to hundreds of people per day.

Mikl-Leitner, however, said Thursday that the restrictions on entries and asylum claims will be implemented as of Friday as planned. That is an allusion to Germany which, along with Sweden, has been the preferred destination for most migrants. Around 90,000 refugees also applied for asylum in Austria in 2015.

“Lamentably, this crisis is exposing serious fault-lines within our union”, Schulz said.

But many doubt it would work and have pushed towards beefing up border controls along the migration routes, which could eventually lead to tens of thousands of people being stuck in Greece, giving rise to major humanitarian problems in a country already struggling with its own deep financial crisis.

The EU’s executive Commission has given Greece three months to restore order on its borders, but few believe Athens will be able to meet the deadline.

Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte, whose government holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, said he hoped NATO’s announcement last week that it would start naval patrols in the Aegean Sea could make a difference.

“Europe can not be rules for some and al la carte for others”, he said.

At the core of the European approach is a migration deal with Turkey, that depends on Turkish authorities stemming the flow in return for money and the prospect of visa-free travel in the EU for Turkish citizens.