(AFP) Austria used the first meeting of EU interior ministers under its presidency of the bloc to advance its tough proposals on the issue, but without reaching firm agreement on its most radical proposals.
After the meeting in the Austrian city of Innsbruck, Austrian Interior Minister Herbert Kickl said there had been “a very wide consensus on the need for protecting the EU’s external borders,” including the strengthening of EU border agency Frontex.
Although the number of migrants fleeing war and poverty has fallen sharply since a 2015 peak, the thorny issue remains a key topic for the six-month presidency of Austria, where a conservative-far right coalition took power last December.
