INTERVIEW Austrian ForMin Kneissl: We hope Romania will address concerns over criminal law changes

"Changes to the criminal codes have raised concerns about possible negative impacts; we hope that Romania will address these concerns and that Romania intends to solicit international expertise from GRECO and the Venice Commission," Austria's Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl tells AGERPRES in a recent interview, urging Romania to consolidate considerable progress in combatting corruption and building effective rule of law.

Effective rule of law as well as legal certainty and foreseeability are particularly important for foreign investors, said Kneissl, who will visit Bucharest on Wednesday to meet Romanian officials, including Prime Minister Viorica Dancila.

The Austrian minister for Europe, integration and foreign affairs also said that "Austria has always supported and continues to support the full integration of Romania and Bulgaria into the Schengen system. However, "given the current migration and refugee situation, I believe that we will only be able to find the consensus necessary among member states once our external borders are effectively protected and irregular migration is sufficiently stemmed."

Kneissl, whose country holds the current six-month presidency of the Council of the EU, said at the same time that "Austria is willing to share its knowledge in preparing the Council Presidency,' and she described as "excellent" the relations between the two countries.

She also said that Migration is a clear priority for the Austrian Presidency of the EU Council which it will continue to pursue in a comprehensive and constructive manner, ranging from further strengthening FRONTEX, to enhancing cooperation with relevant third countries and supporting countries of origin and transit.

AGERPRES: Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said in his recent speech in the European Parliament that the priority of the Austrian Presidency of the Council of European Union, which started on the 1st of July, is solving the issue of migration and that the motto will be 'A Europe that protects'. What does this mean in practical terms? What is your position on the agreement regarding migration that the European leaders conveyed at their recent summit in Brussels, especially on creating the special centers for migrants?

Karin Kneissl: Migration is a clear priority for the Austrian Presidency [of the Council of the European Union], which we will continue to pursue in a comprehensive and constructive manner. This ranges from further strengthening FRONTEX to enhancing cooperation with relevant third countries and supporting countries of origin and transit. After the migration and refugee crisis eroded public confidence in our asylum and migration systems, it is our goal to rebuild trust by properly manage migration movements. I think it is very important that, at the latest EU summit, we have managed to reach a meaningful compromise that puts a clear emphasis on stemming irregular migration and ensuring effective external border protection, of which AT has been a strong proponent for years. Also the idea of 'regional disembarkation platforms' is a concept to be considered..

AGERPRES: You and your Government took a rather harsh stance on migration, saying you want tougher controls at the borders, although the numbers show that migration has reduced significantly this year compared to last year. The Interior Ministry already announced that Austria will start temporary controls at a key border crossing with Italy, after Germany's plans for controls at its border with Austria. What will be your approach on this issue during the European presidency?

Karin Kneissl: It is true that, thanks to a comprehensive set of measures taken by the EU and its member states, the number of irregular arrivals and of asylum applications lodged in EU member states has decreased significantly compared to 2015 or 2016. However, we must not be complacent but reinforce the comprehensive approach I outlined before. The border controls to Italy you mentioned, which expired already, were a normal, temporary practice applied during major events, in this case the Justice and Home Affairs Ministerial Meeting in Innsbruck. Austria does not want to permanently re-establish internal border controls; on the contrary, we work towards strengthening our external borders in order to guarantee the functionality of the Schengen area.

AGERPRES: How do you see the future relation between EU and Russia and its president Vladimir Putin?

Karin Kneissl: The illegal annexation of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol as well as the destabilisation of Eastern Ukraine and, just recently, the Skripal case have severely strained relations between the EU and Russia. We need to rebuild trust, overcome stereotypes and try to get out of the current stalemate.
Austria supports the EU's-Russia policy, which is based on a dual approach of sanctions and five guiding principles. In this context, it will be of particular importance to support good relations between EU and Russian peoples and to continue to reach out to Russian society and its youth, mainly through Erasmus+ and other programmes, notably in research, science and cross-border cooperation.
At the same time, we need to maintain a constructive dialogue with Russia, as it is clear that lasting and sustainable peace in Europe and solutions to a range of regional and global issues cannot be achieved against or by isolating Russia. In this respect, we welcomed the most recent bilateral meeting between the High Representative Federica Mogherini and the Russian Foreign Minister Sergej Lavrov in Vienna on July 6. It goes without saying that the EU will continue to use the dialogue with Russia to bring up difficult issues such as Ukraine or the human rights situation in Russia..

AGERPRES: How comfortable do you feel as a minister proposed and supported by a far-right and nationalist party, Freedom Party, which has members that are accused of having anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim positions? How does this affect your activity as Foreign Minister, especially in relations with your counterparts?

Karin Kneissl: I'm not a member of any political party. The nomination by the Freedom party doesn't affect my activity as foreign minister at all. This has so far never been an issue within political talks or in relation with my counterparts. I will, hence, not comment matters of political parties.

AGERPRES: How do you respond to the accusations that the Austrian Government, by some positions of Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and by the cooperation of his party with Freedom Party, has become part of a populist and nationalist movement that is spreading across EU and which includes, among others, Hungarian and Polish Governments and, more recently, Italian Government, mainly through the voice of its Interior Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, Matteo Salvini?

Karin Kneissl: Of course it is essential to keep up the dialogue with all EU member states. It is further legitimate that countries which share common goals work closely together in all possible manners and fora. Eventually it is of paramount importance that EU stands united and speaks with one voice in order to force the global changes we are currently facing. It is my duty to represent Austria's interests abroad.

AGERPRES: What is your position regarding the changes to the judicial system that the majority in power in Romania is adopting, and which are harshly criticized by the opposition and by tens of thousands of Romanians protesting in the streets in the last year and a half and which raised concerns from European Commission and some Western embassies?

Karin Kneissl: As EU Council Presidency Austria will take the position of an honest broker in these questions. Romania showed considerable progress in combatting corruption and building effective rule of law, the latter as well as legal certainty and foreseeability being particularly important for foreign investors. Therefore we encourage RO to consolidate progress made, in line with Council conclusions on the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism of December 12, 2017.
Changes to the criminal codes have raised concerns (i.a. EC, important EU partners) about possible negative impacts (on international law enforcement cooperation, fight against corruption, violent crime, transnational organized crime, financial crimes, and drug and human trafficking). We hope that Romania will address these concerns and that Romania intends to solicit international expertise from GRECO and the Venice Commission.

AGERPRES: As your predecessor in the previous Government, Mr. Kurz expressed a position rather critical regarding the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen Area. What is the position of the Austrian Government now?

Karin Kneissl: Austria has always supported and continues to support the full integration of Romania and Bulgaria into the Schengen system. However, given the current migration and refugee situation, I believe that we will only be able to find the consensus necessary among member states once our external borders are effectively protected and irregular migration is sufficiently stemmed.

AGERPRES: At the beginning of the next year, Romania will assume the Presidency of the Council of European Union, after Austria. Based on Austria's experience with the preparations, what would be your advice for the Romanian authorities? What do you think should be the priorities?

Karin Kneissl: The Austrian EU-Presidency will be followed by the Romanian Presidency of Council of the European Union in January 2019. Romania, Finland and Croatia will constitute the next EU-Trio-Presidency and draw up a joint 18-months program. It is most likely that certain issues will stay high on the agenda. The need for security and the fight against illegal migration will remain apparent. In order to secure competitiveness of the European economy continued efforts in fostering digitalization and the completion of the digital Single Market will be of particular importance. Besides that, we are convinced that the Romanian EU-Presidency will continue to develop a concrete EU perspective for the Western Balkans/South Eastern Europe. Austria is willing to share its knowledge in preparing the Council Presidency. Based on our experience it is of utmost importance to ensure the involvement of all ministries and relevant stakeholders in the preparatory process and to define the priorities being pursued at an early stage. We stand ready to cooperate closely in order to ensure a smooth transition from our Presidency to the Romanian Presidency [of the EU Council].

AGERPRES: How would you evaluate the diplomatic and economic relations between Austria and Romania?

Karin Kneissl: Excellent. We are committed to further intensifying bilateral contacts. There is strong bilateral economic cooperation. Austria is the 3rd-largest foreign investor: 7.6 billion euros [worth of investment] in 2016, 3000 companies running on Austrian capital, in particular in strategic areas. Most notable are OMV-Petrom, Erste Bank-Banca Comercială Română (BCR). There is also intense cultural cooperation. We are looking forward to cooperate with Timisoara as European capital of culture 2021. The Romanian community is the fifth-strongest in Austria after the German, Serbian. Turkish and Bosnian communities. Cultural associations of the Romanian diaspora are particularly active. Regarding our consecutive EU Presidencies we are pleased to discuss European and global issues. We have shared interests and tradition of good cooperation on SE Europe, the Danube region and the Eastern Partnership. Back-to back EU Presidencies present an opportunity to make headway on European perspective of Western Balkans. AGERPRES (RO - authors Ionut Mares, Mihaela Toth, editor: Mariana Ionescu; EN - author: Corneliu-Aurelian Colceriu, editor: Adina Panaitescu)