Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner has urged the European Union (EU) to implement significantly stricter measures to combat illegal migration.
Sea-news.az reports that the proposals include turning migrants back directly at the border without processing asylum applications in scenarios involving massive, organized migrant surges facilitated by human smuggling networks.
The minister emphasized the urgent need to revise European legislation. According to Karner, updated legal frameworks must enable member states to safeguard their borders more effectively and tackle large-scale migration waves with greater efficacy.
It is reported that during the first nine months of the current year, asylum applications in Austria decreased by 45 percent compared to the same period last year. Between January and September this year, 7,397 applications were registered, compared to 13,347 filed during the corresponding timeframe last year.
