Austrian Chancellor Kurz not willing to take in Afghan refugees

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz does not want to grant protection to any more refugees from Afghanistan despite the takeover of the country by the Taliban. 

"I am not of the opinion that we should take in more people in Austria, but quite the opposite," Kurz said in an interview with the television channel PULS 4, which will be broadcast later on Sunday.

With more than 40,000 Afghans already there, Austria is home to the second largest Afghan community in the EU in relation to its own population.

He consistently ruled out the admission of further Afghans. "There will be no such thing under my chancellorship," Kurz said. He also referred to the "particularly difficult integration" of the population group. "Taking in people who then cannot be integrated is a huge problem for us as a country," Kurz said.

For Kurz there is no denying that the Taliban is cruel and that the living conditions in Afghanistan are terrible. The head of government therefore pleaded for the international community to do everything to improve the situation in the crisis country.

However, Austria also had to admit that many things were in foreign hands. "Not everything is within our power."

Kurz repeated the proposal that people from Afghanistan should receive aid in neighbouring countries. He singled out Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan in particular, and the EU should support countries in the region in this regard.