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Roundup: EU, not trafficker, should decide who come to Europe: Austrian chancellor

Xinhua, September 25, 2016 Adjust font size:

Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern on Saturday said the European Union (EU) should be able to decide who could be able to reach the European continent, not the human traffickers.

Kern made the remarks at a press conference after the Vienna summit of European leaders.

Kern said he believes the better protection of EU border could be a solution of the migrant crisis, though the influx of the illegal migrants has been slowing down.

He noted there were still some 50,000 migrants reaching Germany after the closure of the so-called Balkan route.

"Seventy percent of the target has been reached," said the Austrian chancellor in regard to migrant influx after the Vienna summit, but noting the EU should make more progress.

"We need to decide who gets to come to Europe, not the traffickers," he emphasized, saying the EU should better control the external border, otherwise, internal border control could be negative for EU member states.

European leaders gathered in Vienna on Saturday to discuss the ongoing migrant crisis, especially the so-called Balkan route used by Afghan, Iraqi and Syrian refugees to reach Europe.

EU-Turkey agreement and the closure of Balkan migrant route significantly brought down the number of migrants who are coming to Europe from Turkey.

Austrian and German leaders agreed that the situation of the migrant influx is better than 2015, however, more progress should be made in the future.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel told media that the EU wants to stop illegal immigration while living up to humanitarian responsibilities after the talks.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban said the EU should build a giant refugee city on the Libyan coast, seeing Libya as a key state to protect the external border of Europe especially the Mediterranean border.

In the last migrant wave, many of the people got access to European continent by sea, making the EU difficult to protect its border, while many died due to the poor conditions of the transportation.

Following their welcoming policy toward migrants in 2015, European states changed their attitude when waves of migrants arriving in Europe caused pressure to local governments. Endit