The flow of third world migrants must be brought to a halt, European leaders said over the weekend, with Sebastian Kurz calling for EU nations to begin blocking boats from Africa.
Der Standard reported the Austrian Chancellor held a telephone conversation with Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, in which the pair agreed that the situation with migrants being ferried across the Mediterranean was not sustainable.
“We are both of the opinion that the EU cannot just allow every ship to dock,” said Kurtz, urging other nations in the bloc to close their ports to boats carrying illegal immigrants.
According to a statement from Austria’s Federal Chancellery published Sunday, the Conservative head of state said migrant-laden vessels should be stopped at the EU’s external border, and asylum seekers either returned to their country of origin or delivered to a safe third country on mainland Africa.
“Evidence and developments from elsewhere in Europe” illustrate that “migration is a big problem and it needs to be stopped”, he said in an interview published Saturday, highlighting recent events in Sweden, where rampaging youths set fire to as many as 100 vehicles.
“First of all, we have to send a clear signal that Europe is closed and that no one can come in anymore. The message must be: ‘Stay home, we will help you there’,” Babiš told Prague newspaper Právo.
“I went to politics to fight for Czech interests and our security,” added the populist billionaire, who has been described by some as a ‘Czech Donald Trump’. “When I said that we would not take even one illegal immigrant, that is what happened.”