Austrian interior minister aiming to curb asylum seeker numbers

Austrian Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner on Tuesday said she hopes Wednesday's national government summit on the refugee crisis will reach agreement on fixing measures to tackle the asylum crisis.

In particular, she aims to agree measures to reduce the number of asylum seekers wishing to enter Austria as well as establishing an upper limit for their numbers, she told journalists ahead of a cabinet meeting.

Without such an upper limit, she claimed there will be thousands of homeless asylum seekers in Austria by summer.

Mikl-Leitner said while plans for the establishment of hotspots on the outer borders of the union have existed for some time, she would first like to see how they function. Eventually, these should be used to process asylum applications, she added.

Until this occurs, Austria will focus on the newly-begun border management activities, Mikl-Leitner said.

She noted members of coalition partner the Social Democrats (SPOe) were aware the "boundless welcoming culture" toward asylum seekers had led to massive problems. Endit