| Series Title | EurActiv |
|---|---|
| Series Details | 22.02.16 |
| Publication Date | 22/02/2016 |
| Content Type | News |
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Following Austria's decision to introduce new restrictions on accepting asylum seekers and allowing migrants to transit the country on the 19 February 2016, media reported on 21 February 2016 that asylum seekers from Afghanistan seeking to travel through the Balkans to northern European had been barred from entering neighbouring Macedonia (FYROM), thus creating a domino effect along the so-called Balkan migrant route. Austrian authorities called for a meeting with Western Balkans countries on 24 February 2016 to discuss the cap of migrants and border restrictions. At the meeting Austrian Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner warned that the EU's future was at stake as it pressed Balkan states, in the absence of an effective common response by the bloc, to reduce the influx of migrants. She hoped the outcome of the Vienna meeting unleash a 'chain reaction of sanity'. Countries taking part included: Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro, as well as Slovenia and Croatia, plus Bulgaria as an observer. At the end of the meeting a joint declaration 'Managing Migration Together' was adopted. In this context Kathimerini reported that more than 12,000 refugees and migrants found themselves trapped in Greece on the 23 February 2016. The Greek government protested that it had not been invited to the meeting in Vienna on the 24 February 2016. The issue underscored the tensions amongst EU Member States and neighbouring countries over how to tackle the migration crisis. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi suggested on the 23 February 2016 that Europe was backing into an even greater refugee crisis by tightening border restrictions on the hundreds of thousands who have fled war and conflict in Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and other countries. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras threatened in the Greek parliament on the 23 February 2016 to reject European Union agreements if other countries continued to take action that would lead to refugees and migrants becoming trapped in Greece. This situation formed the background for a Justice and Home Affairs Council held in Brussels on the 24 February 2016 with migration issues dominating the agenda and attempt to create an effective European wide approach. |
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| Source Link | http://www.euractiv.com/section/justice-home-affairs/news/austrian-restrictions-trigger-domino-effect-across-balkan-refugee-route/ |
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| Subject Categories | Justice and Home Affairs |
| Countries / Regions | Austria, Europe, Greece, North Macedonia, Southeastern Europe |
