Austrian chancellor Werner Faymann has urged Germany to set a clear limit on the number of asylum seekers it will accept to help stem a mass influx of refugees that is severely testing European cohesion.
The comments by the Social Democrat to the Kurier newspaper could make even more complicated an emergency EU summit with Turkey tomorrow on handling the worst refugee crisis in generations.
Austria – the last stop before Germany, the top destination for migrants fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and beyond – has already come under fire from the European Commission and human rights groups for capping its own intake of refugees.
"Germany too must give a number for the refugees it is prepared to take from the Syria and Turkey region. Germany must finally create clarity or else refugees will continue to head off in the direction of Germany," Faymann was quoted as saying.
Quota
“If you take the Austrian guidelines, Germany could give its quota at around 400,000. As long as Germany does not say that, it is clear what will happen. The refugees will continue to believe that they will be waved through.”
In Berlin, a government spokesman declined to comment directly on Faymann, but referred to previous statements from Germany's chancellor, Angela Merkel, in which she repeatedly rejected the introduction of such a national cap. – (Reuters)