SPÖ Burgenland:

“This leads the whole asylum system ad absurdum!”

(Bild: krone.tv)

"We have never had an Interior Minister who was responsible for as many asylum applications as Interior Minister Gerhard Karner. This whitewashing is negligent," says Roland Fürst, club leader of the SPÖ Burgendland in the krone.tv talk with Jana Pasching. Governor Hans Peter Doskozil is calling for an Austria-wide fixed upper limit of 10,000 asylum applications for 2024.

The fact is that Austria has been disproportionately burdened with asylum applications in recent years, explains Fürst. "80 to 90 percent of people, some of whom come to Austria illegally, arrive via Burgenland. As the governing party, we have a responsibility here and have presented a clear concept." The calculation in Burgenland shows that 10,000 asylum applications are enough.

Roland Fürst, club leader of the SPÖ Burgenland(Bild: krone.tv)

"This leads the asylum system ad absurdum"
A total of 12,900 people had to leave the country last year, 46 percent of whom were forced to do so. Interior Minister Karner therefore speaks of the "year of deportations", but the SPÖ Burgenland sees things very differently: "You just have to take a close look at the figures," says Fürst. "What the Minister of the Interior doesn't say is that 90 percent of returns are to other EU countries. This means that they are EU citizens or third-country nationals." Only hundreds of people who come to us are brought back. "Essentially, it has to be said, this makes a mockery of the entire asylum system, because it doesn't really make any difference whether you are granted positive asylum or not."

The fact that asylum numbers are currently falling is good, but there are fears that it will not stay that way. Even if you think about the figures up to the end of the year, there will be 25,000-30,000 asylum applications. "That's too much and a large part of the population simply doesn't want that."

"Not every piece of advice is a ricochet"
When asked whether he is bothered by the fact that SPÖ leader Andreas Babler is neglecting the issue of migration at a federal level, he replies with a no. "As we are prioritizing this in Burgenland anyway." There is a constant exchange with Andreas Babler. "And we also say that it would probably be wise to address the issue." But that's what the SPÖ is doing anyway, says Fürst: "We are the only party that has a position paper and a formulated position on this." It is not surprising that there are different positions in a large movement. "It's absolutely clear that the Vienna SPÖ, for example, which seeks to gain trust in urban areas, has different issues and different approaches. Different approaches are legitimate." And: "Not every discussion or piece of advice is a ricochet. If we are asked, then we will take a stance." According to Fürst, the days of swearing off something are over. "You don't create credibility that way."

You can see other topics discussed in the interview, such as how Austria needs to position itself when it comes to labor migration, in the video above!