Greece, Austria discuss irregular migration, EU prospects of Western Balkans

By Ahmet Gencturk

ATHENS (AA) – Greece and Austria on Wednesday discussed irregular migration and the prospects of Western Balkans countries to join the EU.

Speaking at a news conference with visiting Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg, Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis said Greece is under pressure from inflow of irregular migration originating from different routes in the Middle East and North Africa.

“If one sees what is happening today in Sub-Saharan Africa, where there are countries with enormous problems including humanitarian crisis, forced displacement of populations and hunger, we realize that in the future we may indeed have a large increase in migration flows,” he said.

Maintaining that Athens and Vienna are converging on the need to protect the European borders and to new legal migration routes permitting controlled mobility of populations, Gerapetritis also praised the cooperation with Türkiye in the matter.

As to integration of the Western Balkans into the EU, he said: “I would like to say that it is Greece's desire and it is our common wish with Austria to see that states can join the EU when they satisfy required conditions in the future.”

The full implementation of the European acquisition, the observance of the principles of democracy and rule of law, and the faithful and unconditional implementation of international agreements and international law in general are the three conditions required, he explained.