The Austrian Chancellor’s announcement was very clear and unequivocal. “Austria will not join the UN migration pact,” he said in a statement.
We view some points of the migration pact very critically, such as the mixing up of seeking protection with labour migration.
Reacting to the above, Jean-Claude Juncker – who for some time has been displaying two-faced policies – said it was absurd that the European Union is unable to find a common voice in such crucial issues affecting the future. In a very liberal approach, he added that it would be best to have a system whereby such major issues did not need consensus, but could be agreed upon by a qualified majority.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres – of a long Socialist past – did not personally comment on the decision but his spokesman did say that they regret the Austrian decision. The spokesman added, however, that the overwhelming majority of the popular opinion and UN member states support the pact.
The pact is scheduled to be signed in Morocco this December. But it is quite possible that by then – in addition to the United States, Australia, Austria and Hungary – other countries will also opt out of it. First among them might be Poland, as Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said at a joint press conference with Angela Merkel that Poland will probably not join the pact either.
And of course, the Czechs are also expected to make a decision this week. According to the latest opinion polls, their Prime Minister, Andrej Babiš remains the most popular politician. And this also shows that in supporting him and his anti-migration stance, the Czechs are making a very responsible choice.
