Austrian minister calls to grant transit visas for refugees in Greece

Austrian Federal Minister at the Chancellery for Arts, Culture, Media and Civil Servants Josef Ostermayer has called to grant refugees stranded in the Greek islands transit visas to guarantee their safe and quick passage to Europe.

Ostermayer made his remarks in response to criticism from the German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the way his country is dealing with the refugee crisis.

Merkel criticised Austria during an interview with Germany’s ARD channel on Sunday, saying the decision to close the borders cannot solve the problem. Merkel has also criticised the actions of other EU member states in dealing with refugees, stressing the importance of a united European response.

Earlier, Austria’s Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner announced that Austria will allow a maximum of 3,200 people to travel to Germany a day, which was described by German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière in a statement at the time as “huge”.

Ostermayer explained that granting visas to the refugees in the Greek islands “will help Europe control asylum seekers legally and prevent smuggling”.

“This could represent a future solution to the refugee crisis for Germany,” he explained.

Ostermayer said this should be applied not only to refugees registered in Greece.

Austria last week hosted a refugee summit with states on the so-called “Balkan route” to discuss strategies to reduce refugee flows. However, Vienna was forced to defend its decision not to invite Greece.

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