ÖVP foreign and European policy spokesman in Strasbourg – meeting with ÖVP delegation and EU Parliament President Roberta Metsola in the light of the upcoming elections and the migration issue
Strasbourg (OTS) – “Austria’s commitment led to a paradigm shift in the European Union. There is still a lot to do with the Asylum and Migration Pact, which Chancellor Karl Nehammer took the lead in putting on the EU agenda. But we are optimistic,” said the ÖVP foreign minister. and European policy spokesman, National Council member Reinhold Lopatka, during his visit to the ÖVP delegation in Strasbourg, where he also met, among other things, the President of the European Parliament. “We agree with Roberta Metsola: There will never be complete external border protection. However, we have to create one thing at the European level: it can no longer be an advantage for anyone to come to Austria, Germany or Sweden, so all procedures have to be in transit zones be processed. Because then no one would hand themselves over to smugglers because they would be sent back to the transit zone anyway. A very important step was taken with the decision on the asylum and migration package in December; now the Commission must work intensively to achieve these goals. “
Lopatka, also the People’s Party’s EU leading candidate, and Metsola also discussed the upcoming European Parliament elections. “The upcoming elections to the European Parliament are groundbreaking. Together we will fight to remain the parliamentary group with the largest number of votes as a pro-European centrist force. Because both the European and the Austrian People’s Parties stand for orderly migration and a determined fight against undesirable developments and human trafficking. And that’s what Chancellor Nehammer and I stand for as the EU’s top candidate,” said Lopatka, who took the opportunity to invite President Metsola to Vienna, where she already spoke in the Austrian Parliament in May 2023. (Ending)
Questions & Contact:
Press office of the ÖVP parliamentary club
+43 1 401 10-4439 or +43 1 401 10-4432
http://www.oevpklub.at