Austria’s Chancellor Christian Stocker is calling for an overhaul of EU asylum rules as his government faces mounting pressure from the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ), which topped last year’s parliamentary elections.
Stocker, leader of the center-right People’s Party (ÖVP), said in an interview with the Financial Times published on Sunday that EU asylum laws “no longer correspond” to their original purpose.
Austria is one of a “growing group of countries that’s actually dealing with this [EU asylum reform] question very in-depth and we all agree that the laws that we have now no longer correspond to their original intention,” Stocker said.
Last year’s election saw the FPÖ win the most votes but remain excluded from government.
Human rights groups warn that the Austrian government is exaggerating migration problems to justify crackdowns, including curbs on family reunification. The International Organization for Migration (IOM), UNHCR and UNICEF have recently jointly expressed concern over Vienna’s suspension of family reunification for asylum seekers, highlighting potential violations of children’s rights.
Stocker, who initially denounced FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl as a threat to democracy and national security, now argues that mainstream parties must handle the far right on their own terms, rejecting the idea of a political “firewall.” Stocker has also been criticized for trying to form a government with the far right after initially failing to strike a deal with other centrist parties.
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