Germany Austria rejects asylum refoulement at German border
Austria has rejected the plans of the CDU/CSU and SPD coalition negotiators to turn back asylum seekers at the border. Austria will not accept such persons, the Ministry of the Interior in Vienna told the German Press Agency.
09.03.2025, 13:36
SDA
The leaders of the CDU/CSU and SPD had previously agreed on a common course in migration policy. In future, people applying for asylum are also to be turned back at land border controls - but only in coordination with the respective neighboring country.
Order to Austrian police: do not accept refoulement
From Austria's point of view, however, people applying for asylum may not be turned back informally at the border under current EU law. "The Ministry of the Interior has therefore instructed the relevant state police directorates not to accept refusals of entry by the German authorities in violation of EU law and to report any observations immediately," it said.
The new Austrian coalition government made up of the conservative ÖVP, social democratic SPÖ and liberal Neos is itself planning restrictive measures in the areas of asylum and migration. For example, family reunification for people entitled to protection is to be temporarily halted. The CDU/CSU and SPD are planning a similar step, which would affect relatives of refugees with limited protection status.
The government in Vienna also reserves the right to trigger the EU emergency clause in the event of an increase in asylum applications and to stop accepting new applications altogether.
