Austria may declare state of emergency over refugees
Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern did not rule out that authorities may consider declaring state of emergency in the country in September due to the refugee situation, Ria Novosti reports.
“In early September additional negotiation is due at the level of ministers of defense and internal Affairs of Austria and Hungary. It is necessary to create preconditions for the implementation of the emergency and of return to Hungary. If it succeeds, I think, September 6 is a good date to discuss the text,” Austrian Chancellor said as quoted by local TV.
According to Kern, the flow of migrants decreased significantly in recent months, but one needs to be ready to resume this threat, if the situation in Turkey and North Africa does not change.
In January 2016, the Austrian leadership decided to reduce the admission of refugees and established a quota for the admission to 37.5 thousand people. For the first half of this year, the Austrian authorities used nearly two-thirds of the set their own quotas, having more than 22 thousand applications for asylum seekers in Austria.
Kern noted that in the case of successful cooperation with EU member states and Turkey over handling the refugee crisis, Austria will be able to adhere to the established quota and, possibly, without the imposition of emergency.