The EU could submit a proposal as early as March to create so-called return centers to speed up the return of illegal migrants, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristerson said.
Kristerson outlined the potential plan during a meeting in Vienna with Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, a fellow conservative. Both men called for the EU to step up efforts to combat illegal immigration.
Kristerson said he had discussed the plan with the European Commissioner for Migration, Austrian Magnus Bruner, who assured him that the proposal would be presented in the spring.
The Swedish prime minister added during a joint press conference with Nehammer that it would likely be in March.
Nehammer praised Kristerson for keeping the issue of immigration on the EU agenda and said there were now 18 countries in the Schengen free-travel zone, including Switzerland and Norway, whose interests were aligned with the intention to curb the movement of migrants.
The Austrian chancellor said that concerned governments had managed to “completely change” the discussion on immigration, so that countries without external EU borders, like Austria, were now more involved in dealing with the issue.
“Only when we accept that the problem must be solved together do we have a chance of making progress,” he said.
Photo: N1
