Austria Wants To Leave EU's Migrant Quota Programme

Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern will write a letter to the European Commission with an explanation as to why Vienna does not want to participate in the programme of the European Union for the distribution of migrants.

Austria has undertaken to accept from Greece and Italy nearly 2,000 migrants under the quota programme of the EU but this number has been exceeded due to the influx of illegal migrants, stated Kern after a meeting of the government.

"I believe that an exception has to be made for Austria because we have already fulfilled our commitments. We will discuss this issue with the EC and we will send them a letter as soon as possible," stated the Austrian Chancellor.

In 2016, Austria's migration service permitted the review of nearly 36,000 people who want to receive refugee status. The government set a limit of 37,500 applications. When the limit is exceeded, the borders close down and deportation under simplified procedures begins.