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Greek PM ‘optimistic’ about deal with EU

Update: Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras flew into Vienna on Monday for a brief meeting with Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann, of the Social Democrats.

Published: 9 February 2015 10:09 CET
Greek PM 'optimistic' about deal with EU
Alexis Tsipras (left) and Werner Faymann. Photo: APA/Schlager

His plane was delayed by an hour due to snowy and stormy conditions, but he was welcomed outside the Chancellery building by a crowd of around 100 well-wishers, including representatives from Austria's Communist Party and Socialist Youth. 

The meeting between the two leaders was reported to be cordial, with Tspiras saying that had "found a good friend" in Faymann, and adding that he hoped to cooperate closely with Austria in the future. 

Tsipras said that he was "optimistic" about reaching a compromise with the European Union on renegotiating Greece's massive international bailout.

"There is a common desire to resolve this crisis. I am optimistic that we will reach a compromise with our European partners," he told a press conference in Vienna.

He and Faymann discussed Austria's economic and social model, as well as ways of working to combat tax fraud. 

Tsipras' visit to Vienna comes two days before a meeting of eurozone finance ministers and a European summit focused on the Greek crisis on Thursday.

Before the meeting Faymann indicated that Austria would take a softer line with Greece than Germany has, with Berlin and Athens locking horns over debt relief. "I see a possibility for a European consensus," Faymann said last week.

Greece's new leftist government has said the country intends to honour its debts but Tsipras has insisted he would be "unshakeable" in carrying out an anti-austerity agenda and called for temporary EU funding to help stave off a default.

Greece also claims that Germany never compensated it for all the damage wrought by the Nazis during World War II.

EU officials have rejected Tsipras' efforts to renegotiate Greece's bailout terms. On Monday German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble said that "if they (the Greeks) want our help, there needs to be a programme" agreed with creditors, rather than the emergency assistance that Athens had called for.

'Against Austrian interests'

In an interview with the Kurier newspaper on Sunday Faymann was unusually critical of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, saying that her “plan of wait and see had failed” and that measures to prop up the banking system after the financial crisis had been “a little late”.

He was sympathetic towards Tsipras, saying that “he wants to fight corruption and tax fraud – which is more logical than making cuts and privatising the crisis”. He said that he supported negotiations “on credit conditions, so that Greece has scope to come out of the crisis”.

The conservative People’s Party (ÖVP) was critical of Tsipras' visit, with General Secretary Gernot Blümel saying that Faymann's "search for international recognition" presents a "risk for local taxpayers". He added that criticizing Merkel and "kneeling" before Tsipras was "against Austrian interests".

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MIGRANT CRISIS

How a change in the profile of asylum seekers is impacting Austria

The number of asylum applications has dropped in Austria, but changes in the profile of those arriving are creating new demands and new policies.

Published: 22 April 2024 16:05 CEST
How a change in the profile of asylum seekers is impacting Austria

Asylum policy is a controversial topic in Austria, especially in an election year. The far-right has been pushing its anti-immigration agenda to gather support ahead of federal elections later this year.

While the sheer number of refugees can shape an election, differences in who those refugees are and where they come from also create challenges and demands for government action.

The profile of those seeking asylum in Austria has changed compared to recent years.

In the first quarter of 2024, almost a third of asylum applications came from children between the ages of zero and seven, as Austrian media has reported.

Around 53 percent of applicants are minors, and the proportion of women seeking asylum has also risen significantly. However, the overall number of asylum applications during the period fell by 32 percent compared to the same period the year before. 

Whereas 2023 most asylum applications in Austria were from males (only around 24 percent of applications were submitted by women), the country is now experiencing the “family reunification” phenomenon. In other words the wifes and children are following to seek protection.

Asylum applicants are still mostly from Syria and Afghanistan – two nationalities with a high chance of obtaining protection in Austria. Only 30 percent of applications from Syrians were rejected, whereas for Afghans 39 percent were refused.

READ ALSO: Border centres and ‘safe’ states: The EU’s major asylum changes explained

What does the change in profile mean for Austria?

One immediate consequence of the influx of children has already been seen in Vienna, the destination of most refugees: the school system is overwhelmed with the new arrivals, as several Austrian newspapers have reported in the last few weeks.

“This is putting such a strain on the system that high-quality teaching is hardly possible any more,” Thomas Krebs, a union representative, told Kurier. According to the report, around 300 children will arrive in Vienna every month, resulting in a need for 140 classes by the end of the school year. 

The Austrian capital was already overwhelmed by a shortage of teachers and an overflow of schoolchildren—particularly since the war in Ukraine, when 4,000 children were integrated into Vienna’s schools from February 2022.

The kids coming from Syria also need more support than merely German classes: “The Syrian children who come to us from refugee camps are a particular challenge for the system. Many are traumatised and often not even literate in their own language,” Krebs said.

He added that children need to spend more time in kindergarten—to learn “the basics, not just the language.” The education expert also believes it’s necessary to invest more in extracurricular activities, where young people can learn German, acquire behavioural skills that are important for school, and learn how to spend their free time meaningfully.

READ ALSO: What’s the reason behind the drop in Austrian asylum seeker claims?

What is Vienna doing?

Vienna’s Department of Education points out that new teachers are being recruited. In the current academic year, 2,400 teachers have been hired, Kurier reported.

Director of Education Heinrich Himmer said: “We support pupils and face the challenges together so that learning and living together work well. I would like to thank everyone who works so hard in Vienna’s schools. However, the responsibility for integration is an all-Austrian one, where solutions exist at the federal level.”

How does family reunification work?

There is a special process for granting family reunification rights for family members of refugees in Austria. 

According to information from the Federal Office for Immigration and Asylum, if a foreigner has been granted asylum status in Austria, family members can apply for an entry permit at an Austrian representation authority abroad within three months of this status being granted.

If this is granted, they can travel to Austria to apply for asylum in the family procedure and receive the same protection status as the reference person. If the application is only submitted after three months, they must also provide proof of adequate accommodation, health insurance, and income.

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