Austria’s Ambassador during his speech./ Photo: Embassy of Austria
The Diplomat. 03/07/2018
Yesterday, the headquarters of the European Institutions in Spain were the scene for the raising of the flag on the occasion of the start of Austria’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union, in which the representative of the Spanish Government urged Vienna to close “the wound of migration”.
“120,000 people arrived by sea to Europe last year. We are 510 million people. Is there a migration crisis? Do we have a serious real problem?”, wondered the director general of Integration and Coordination of General Affairs of the European Union, José Pascual Marco, who represented the Foreign Ministry in the event.
According to Pascual Marco, although “having protected and safe borders, and controlling migration flows” is important, preserving the Schengen area and maintaining an “always open” EU that not only helps “protect its citizens”, but also “those drowning in the sea” is important too.
Therefore, the representative of the Foreign Ministry pointed out, it is necessary that the Austrian Government of the chancellor Sebastian Kurz “closes the wound of migrations”, a wound that, in his opinion, is “in part, psychological”.
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The Ambassadors of Austria and Bulgaria, and José Pascual Marco attend the raising of the flag in Madrid
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In the same event, Austria’s Ambassador to Spain, Christian Ebner, expressed his conviction that the State of the EU will find a “joint solution” to their current problems.
Ebner pointed out that Austria will focus on three key matters during its Presidency: security of the outer borders and measures against illegal migration; protection of the wellbeing and competitiveness through digitalization; and rapprochement of the Western Balkans to the EU.
The ceremony was also attended by Bulgaria’s Ambassador, Ivan Kondov, whose country held the Presidency during the first half of the year; the director of the Office of Information of the European Parliament in Spain, María Andrés; and the acting deputy director of the Representation of the European Commission in Spain, Jochen Müller.
During the next six months, Austria will preside over the Council’s sessions of all levels and will take care of helping define the positions of this body. According to its program, among the priorities of the Austrian presidency are the advances related to security, border and migration control, digital economy, negotiations of the next budget of the EU for the period 2021-2027 and protection of the environment.
