Austria’s Kurz Wants ‘Axis of Willing’ Against Illegal Migration

Austria’s conservative leader Sebastian Kurz called Wednesday for an “axis of the willing against illegal migration” between Italy, Germany and his own country.

Speaking alongside German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, a Bavarian conservative who shares the Austrian chancellor’s views on tightening up Europe’s borders, Kurz said fighting illegal immigration would be a top priority for Vienna’s presidency of the Council of the EU in the second half of 2018.

“We shouldn’t wait until we have a catastrophe, like in 2015,” Kurz said, referring to the refugee crisis when German Chancellor Angela Merkel opened her country’s borders to hundreds of thousands of migrants. “Instead it is important to act on time.”

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Seehofer takes a much harder line than Merkel on immigration and was expected to present a “migration master plan” this week. {snip}

“From my point of view, it would be ideal to secure the external borders of the European Union,” Seehofersaid after the meeting with Kurz. “I promised Chancellor Kurz that on the question of strengthening the external borders he has my full support as interior minister.”

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