Austria's Karner: The Schengen system, as a whole, is not working
The Schengen system, as a whole, "isn't working," Austrian Minister of the Interior Gerhard Karner said on Wednesday, adding that he does not consider that an extension is currently "opportune."
At a joint news conference in Vienna with his Romanian counterpart Catalian Predou, he was asked about Austria's stance on the enlargement of the border-free Schengen area, told Agerpres.
Predoiu visited the Austrian capital on Wednesday for talks with Karner.
"I said it very clearly ten days ago, when I also held a press conference here. Our position is that the Schengen system, as a whole, is not working, therefore we are not open to its enlargement. You can also see that there are border checks between Germany and Austria, between Austria and Hungary, between Austria and Slovenia. In Germany, there was a discussion about border checks with Poland. It is a clear signal that the system as a whole is not working and therefore I do not consider enlargement to be timely at this time," Karner said, according to the official translation.
According to him, "as far as returns are concerned, the Dublin system has its deficits." "We want to approach these aspects from a European perspective," said Karner.