This is the article they are basing that off of. It does contain some truth. The greens are very unhappy with this decision. I personally don’t think this will break the coalition but it definitely is showing a rift.
Translation:
“The decision of the Austrian government to oppose the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area could lead to the collapse of the governing coalition in Vienna, writes the Austrian publication Kronen Zeitung. According to it, the deep divisions within the Austrian government are getting stronger now, after Austria’s veto.
From the Austrian press, the Green Party, one of the formations that make up the governing coalition in Vienna, did not support the veto imposed by Chancellor Nehammer in the JAI Council and is extremely dissatisfied with this decision. “Although Vice-Chancellor Werner Kogler and the leader of the Greens, Sigi Maurer, remained silent on Friday, they instead sent the Minister of Justice, Alma Zadic, to express their displeasure. She emphasized, in Brussels, that her party did not support the veto”, writes the Austrian publication. According to Kronen Zeitung, Vice-Chancellor Kogler, from the Green Party, tried to persuade Interior Minister Karner, a member of the conservative OeVP formation, to find compromise solutions, but no consensus was reached. However, the Greens tried to avoid taking responsibility for this decision of the government of which they are a part – in a post on Twitter, one of their representatives, Michel Reimon, claimed that “every minister was free in the decision taken in Brussels” and that the Greens had no influence on the chancellor. Reimon also said he hoped the decision could be fixed in another coalition. However, he stressed that this decision is not a reason for breaking up the coalition and calling for new elections.
“Unfortunately, such methods had to be resorted to in order to be heard in Brussels,” is the excuse given by the Austrian government for its unexpected veto. In addition, the conservatives say that they do not understand what is the “reason for this overexcitement”, because the Netherlands also voted against Romania and Bulgaria, writes the Austrian publication. In fact, the Austrian press also writes that the foreign minister, Alexander Schallenberg, defended Austria’s refusal to Romania and Bulgaria’s accession to Schengen, suggesting that the government in Vienna had to resort to this gesture in order to be heard in European forums – “We are not a state that blocks and vetoes. It’s more of a cry for help,” he said. Austria did not block the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to Schengen, but only “did not want to do it now”, explained Schallenberg in an interview granted, on Friday, to the TV channel Puls24. The Austrian official also claims that his government even wanted to remove the subject of Schengen from the agenda of the JAI Council and talk about it again in six months. He denied, however, that this veto has to do with the local elections in Lower Austria, where his party lost ground in favor of right-wing extremists, who have radicalized positions on immigration. At the same time, he criticized Romania’s reaction, which he considers too “emotional”, after, on Thursday, the MAE from Bucharest recalled the ambassador from Austria, Emil Hurezeanu, to the country.”
nothing’s gonna happen. Both governing parties would lose massively if it came to re-elections so they’ll ride it out as long as they can.
I don’t know much about the specifics, but generally speaking it’s common that when you decide to go for the hardliner option you pay a political price for it when successful. In this case apparently both internally and externally.
Oh God again?
Meanwhile, EPP’s chief Manfred Weber started to defend the Austrian chancellor. EU’s outrage against Austria and supporting Romania lasted a full day.
Government is collapsing? It’s Tuesday again already?
Jokes on you, our government has been in shambles since long before the veto
Woah, that’s quite something! Maybe Romania will finally get the access to the Schengen zone.
10 comments
Exagerration, misinterpretation or some truth in that ?
https://www.krone.at/2878326
This is the article they are basing that off of. It does contain some truth. The greens are very unhappy with this decision. I personally don’t think this will break the coalition but it definitely is showing a rift.
Translation:
“The decision of the Austrian government to oppose the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area could lead to the collapse of the governing coalition in Vienna, writes the Austrian publication Kronen Zeitung. According to it, the deep divisions within the Austrian government are getting stronger now, after Austria’s veto.
From the Austrian press, the Green Party, one of the formations that make up the governing coalition in Vienna, did not support the veto imposed by Chancellor Nehammer in the JAI Council and is extremely dissatisfied with this decision. “Although Vice-Chancellor Werner Kogler and the leader of the Greens, Sigi Maurer, remained silent on Friday, they instead sent the Minister of Justice, Alma Zadic, to express their displeasure. She emphasized, in Brussels, that her party did not support the veto”, writes the Austrian publication. According to Kronen Zeitung, Vice-Chancellor Kogler, from the Green Party, tried to persuade Interior Minister Karner, a member of the conservative OeVP formation, to find compromise solutions, but no consensus was reached. However, the Greens tried to avoid taking responsibility for this decision of the government of which they are a part – in a post on Twitter, one of their representatives, Michel Reimon, claimed that “every minister was free in the decision taken in Brussels” and that the Greens had no influence on the chancellor. Reimon also said he hoped the decision could be fixed in another coalition. However, he stressed that this decision is not a reason for breaking up the coalition and calling for new elections.
“Unfortunately, such methods had to be resorted to in order to be heard in Brussels,” is the excuse given by the Austrian government for its unexpected veto. In addition, the conservatives say that they do not understand what is the “reason for this overexcitement”, because the Netherlands also voted against Romania and Bulgaria, writes the Austrian publication. In fact, the Austrian press also writes that the foreign minister, Alexander Schallenberg, defended Austria’s refusal to Romania and Bulgaria’s accession to Schengen, suggesting that the government in Vienna had to resort to this gesture in order to be heard in European forums – “We are not a state that blocks and vetoes. It’s more of a cry for help,” he said. Austria did not block the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to Schengen, but only “did not want to do it now”, explained Schallenberg in an interview granted, on Friday, to the TV channel Puls24. The Austrian official also claims that his government even wanted to remove the subject of Schengen from the agenda of the JAI Council and talk about it again in six months. He denied, however, that this veto has to do with the local elections in Lower Austria, where his party lost ground in favor of right-wing extremists, who have radicalized positions on immigration. At the same time, he criticized Romania’s reaction, which he considers too “emotional”, after, on Thursday, the MAE from Bucharest recalled the ambassador from Austria, Emil Hurezeanu, to the country.”
nothing’s gonna happen. Both governing parties would lose massively if it came to re-elections so they’ll ride it out as long as they can.
I don’t know much about the specifics, but generally speaking it’s common that when you decide to go for the hardliner option you pay a political price for it when successful. In this case apparently both internally and externally.
Oh God again?
Meanwhile, EPP’s chief Manfred Weber started to defend the Austrian chancellor. EU’s outrage against Austria and supporting Romania lasted a full day.
Government is collapsing? It’s Tuesday again already?
Jokes on you, our government has been in shambles since long before the veto
Woah, that’s quite something! Maybe Romania will finally get the access to the Schengen zone.