The Austrian government on Tuesday
said it was ready to protect its southern borders, in the wake
of a government-saving migrant deal in Germany.
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, Deputy Chancellor
Heinz-Christian Strache and Interior Minister Herbert
Kickl announced the move after German Chancellor and CDU leader
Angela Merkel and Bavarian sister party CSU leader Horst
Seehofer announced a deal Monday to set up asylum seeker centres
in so-called 'transit zones' in Germany.
Austria's main southern border is with Italy.
The main crossing point is at the Brenner Pass.
The accord in Germany came after Seehofer threatened to bring
down the government unless migrants were stopped from entering
the country.
Seehofer said Tuesday he would also talk to Italy on the
migrant issue after a phone conversation with Kurz on the
transit centres decided by the EU for migrants registered in
other countries.
"We will also naturally speak to Italy. But first we must
know what we want," he said, according to the DPA news agency.
Seehofer said "I want to fly to Vienna as soon as possible",
without setting a date.
Meanwhile at least 114 migrants drowned in the third
shipwreck in four days off Libya Monday, the UNHCR said.
Only 63 survived after a dinghy went down to the east of
Tripoli, the refugee agency said.
This came after 63 migrants drowned on Sunday.
Migrant deaths should not be used to argue against the
government's tough new migration policy, Labour and Industry
Minister Luigi Di Maio said Tuesday.
"Deaths must not be used for this polemic, let's remember
that there have always been deaths at sea," he said on Italian
TV.
Government critics have slammed the new policy of turning
away migrant-rescuing NGO ships.
They have claimed this has helped cause recent mass
drownings.
"Our ships are continuing to save people," Di Maio said.
"There is a difference between rescuing and ferrying".
In the past, Di Maio has accused NGOs of being "migrant
taxis".
The deputy premier stressed that "we will supply motor
launches to Libya because the healthiest thing is that the
Libyans should carry out the rescues, and take (the migrants)
back to the Libyan coast".
No one country can face the migrant issue alone, President
Sergio Mattarella said Tuesday.
Speaking after talks with Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis,
Mattarella said "we also spoke of the common membership of the
EU and the Atlantic Alliance.
"Starting from the result of the last European Council, we
spoke about the issue of migration, agreeing on the fact that it
is a phenomenon of such a large scale that no single country can
face it on its own".
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