Geneva [Switzerland], June 26:Austria and Italy want to reach clear decisions on how the European Union's (EU) asylum system should be reformed at the upcoming EU summit next week, according to Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer and Italian Prime Minister GiorgiaMeloni.
The two leaders are "close allies in the fight against illegal migration," they said at the EuropaforumWachau conference in Austria's Furth beiGottweig.
The joint call from Nehammer, a conservative, and Meloni, a far-right leader, come as the EU grapples with how to handle rising numbers of asylum seekers and irregular migrants. Both backed a harder-line position for the bloc.
The question of how to handle migration, and especially asylum claims, is highly divisive in the EU.
The European Council, which is made up by the leaders of the EU's 27 member countries, will meet in Brussels on June 29 and 30.
"The asylum system in Europe has failed," Nehammer said.
"The EU needs to move from talk to action, actually implement asylum procedures at the external border and, above all, go a step further and conclude strong agreements for asylum procedures in third countries outside the EU."
Meloni said she and Nehammer were pulling together to bring about a "paradigm shift" in the EU.
She said she wants to see concrete decisions at the summit.
Source: Qatar Tribune