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Tourism in Austria has worked safely, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz told Swiss television. Kurz also underscored his position on the refugee issue.
11.29 am, September 19, 2020
Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) confirmed his opinion during a visit to Switzerland that the corona pandemic should last until the summer of next year. “Until then, the pandemic will demand a lot from us,” he said late Friday in an interview with Swiss television SRF. But he is “very optimistic” for the summer of 2021.
There are “great advances in vaccine research and drug research,” Kurz said, justifying his confidence. “In this sense, I hope that next summer can be normal again,” added Kurz, who had already spoken of “light at the end of the tunnel” at the end of August in the “summer talk” with ORF television with a view to the middle of next year. . On Saturday morning in Basel, the head of government wants to know the state of the development of medicines and vaccines in a meeting with the executive directors of the main pharmaceutical companies.
“Many cases brought from abroad”
The Federal Chancellor again justified the fact that the figures in Austria had increased again in relation to the SRF, mainly because many cases were “brought in from abroad”. “We had a lot of travelers coming back in the summer. We are not an island.” Actually, tourism in Austria worked very safely, said the head of ÖVP. Now, what happens in Austria is “what happens in all countries when conversations and contacts turn inward. When you start school and when you return from the central office, infection rates increase again. This is the case. from Switzerland”. That is the case in Austria. That is the case in most European countries. “
Due to the increasing number of infections, Switzerland put Vienna on the list of corona risk areas last Friday and issued a conditional quarantine obligation. Kurz and Swiss Federal President Simonetta Sommaruga (Social Democrats / SPS) assured on Saturday after a meeting at the Lohn estate near Bern that they would do everything possible to avoid further border closures.
“Together we want to make sure that the border region continues to function well and that there are no restrictions on the population and the economy,” said Kurz, who was also accompanied by the Governor of Vorarlberg, Markus Wallner (also ÖVP) at the meeting. Like Tyrol, Vorarlberg borders Switzerland. Every day there are around 9,000 cross-border travelers who drive from Austria to Switzerland to get to work.
Vaccine in the first half of 2021
“From the current perspective, it is to be expected that in the first half of 2021 not only will a vaccine be investigated, but also approved and used in Europe.” This forecast regarding further fight against the corona pandemic was made on Saturday by Kurz (ÖVP) at the end of his visit to Switzerland after a meeting with CEOs of leading pharmaceutical companies in Basel.
“A sigh of relief and realistic changes” that he considers “realistic” for the summer of 2021, Kurz said in previous statements. “Although I know that there have already been more optimistic statements,” he said in obvious allusions to the Minister of Health, Rudolf Anschober (Greens), who had already promised a vaccine for the beginning of next year. After all, according to Kurz in an interview with the APA, it is not just a question of “when the first person is vaccinated, but when there is sufficient capacity to vaccinate a greater number of people.”
Tough stance on the refugee issue
Kurz also highlighted his tough stance on the refugee issue on Swiss television. Under the turquoise-green federal government, Austria will not accept anyone from the burned-out Moria refugee camp. “We have hosted a lot of people in Austria over the last five years,” Kurz repeated his point of view.
“In the last five years, more than 200,000 people have applied for asylum in Austria.” 30,000 of them are unemployed. “We are the third most affected country in all of Europe. Therefore, we believe that we must first integrate the people who are already in Austria.”
Austria has “local help,” Kurz stressed. She did not show understanding for the fact that some countries in Europe boasted of “having two, four, 16” or, like Switzerland, “20 children”. “For me this is just a symbolic policy, I don’t want to be part of it either.”
