In addition to external border protection, topics in the working discussion include the migration situation and EU topics for the coming six months. After the meeting, Karner will visit the police cooperation center in Nickelsdorf, which is operated jointly with Hungary. “Hungary is an important partner for us in the fight against organized smuggling. We will therefore continue to expand our police cooperation in this area. Only on Tuesday did we dispatch another 18 police officers to the Hungarian EU external border with Serbia. We will continue to increase this contingent,” said Karner.
Before the visit to Hungary, Karner will discuss external border protection in a video conference on Monday with Lithuanian Interior Minister Agnė Bilotaitė, Greece’s Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi and Poland’s Undersecretary of State Bartosz Grodecki. The eight-eye talk serves as a preparation for the border protection conference in Vilnius. For this conference, the Interior Minister will be in Lithuania on Thursday and Friday. “The EU needs effective external border protection. Last but not least, the situation on the Lithuanian border showed us that. Austria is clearly on Lithuania’s side here. The European Commission is called upon to support the construction of robust border facilities,” he emphasized on Sunday.
