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It is not so often that Austrian heads of government are received at the Elyseepalast in Paris. Shared concern after the recent wave of Islamist terror was the reason why Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (Vice President) visited French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday and a subsequent videoconference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the head of the Commission of the UE, Ursula von der Leyen, and the president of the council, Charles Michel. and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
Participants identified three fields of activity with tasks for their own policy and that of the EU. These will continue to be worked on on Friday at the EU interior ministers conference and on December 19 at the EU summit. First, as has often been said, protection of the floodplain boundaries must be improved. At the same time, “we have to work to reform the Schengen rules,” Macron said. But this is controversial. Second, there should not only be better cooperation between national and European authorities. Kurz would also like to see more powers for law enforcement agencies to allow “stronger action against threats across Europe.” Third, Parisians want to do more to prevent and stop hate from spreading online. One tool could be the formation of a European magnet as suggested by Charles Michel. Another tool is an EU directive, on which Angela Merkel wants to conclude negotiations by the end of the year under the German presidency, he said. Internet platforms must be forced to remove hate messages within one hour. Von der Leyen announced a new “Counter-Terrorism Agenda with a strong mandate for Europol” for 9 December. The projects, some of which have been planned for years and are progressing slowly, must now end. This includes the European ETIAS travel information and approval system.
The series of breakdowns at the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the Fight Against Terrorism (BVT) before the attack in Vienna was behind a turquoise blue exchange of blows yesterday. Club vice president August Wginger accused his counterpart Herbert Kickl (FP) of citing files locked after Monday’s terrorist attack, “a unique process” by a former interior minister. According to Kickl, he only received reports that the special forces were able to arrest the attacker in the city center of Vienna so quickly because they were stationed nearby for the planned counter-terrorism operation called “Ramses” (later “Luxor”). Kickl accused Interior Minister Karl Nehammer (vice president) of a “cover-up campaign” surrounding the perpetrator’s failed ammunition purchase in Bratislava and called for his resignation.
“A lot of garbage”
In his counterattack, Wginger responded to the former coalition partner’s time as minister: “Kickl left a lot of manure, not just horse manure,” the VP club chief alluded to Kickl’s police horse project. Unlike him, Nehammer is tackling a real BVT reform. (via / luc)
