The Austrian government said on October 31 that it won’t sign a global compact to promote safe and orderly migration, citing concerns about national sovereignty as it joined neighboring Hungary in shunning the agreement.
Conservative Chancellor Sebastian Kurz took office last December in a coalition with the nationalist, anti-migration Freedom Party. Austria currently holds the European Union’s rotating presidency, and Kurz has made curbing unregulated migration a priority.
The Global Compact for Safety, Orderly and Regular Migration, which isn’t legally binding, was finalized under U.N. auspices in July. It is due to be formally approved at a meeting in Marrakech, Morocco, from Dec. 11-12.
The Austria Press Agency reported that Kurz and Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache said Austria won’t sign the document or send an official representative to Marrakech. They cited, among other things, fears about a possible watering-down of the distinction between legal and illegal migration.
Last December, the United States said it was ending its participation in negotiations on the compact, stating that numerous provisions were “inconsistent with U.S. immigration and refugee policies” under President Donald Trump.
In July, Hungary said it would withdraw from the process.
Source: Time
