STA, 5 December 2018 - Prime Minister Marjan Šarec met Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz in Vienna on Wednesday, praising good relations between the two countries, in particular economic cooperation. Nevertheless, countries have certain issues, but "they're nothing we couldn't tackle," Šarec acknowledged.
Šarec pinpointed Austrian controls on the internal Schengen border with Slovenia and its legislation that reduces child allowance for foreign citizens working in the country as the most pressing issues.
With regards to the latter, Šarec reiterated Slovenia's position that such legislation is not in line with European rules. He expects that the European Commission will take appropriate action based on a complaint of seven EU members, including Slovenia.
Slovenia also believes that the border controls, introduced amidst the 2015 migration crisis, are unwarranted, because Slovenia controls well the external Schengen border.
Kurz, on the other hand, said that Austria only introduced the controls after Germany introduced them on the Austrian borders. He indicated that controls would only be abolished once external borders of the EU were "adequately protected".
The Slovenian prime minister agreed that external EU borders should be protected well, with Slovenia especially interested in the protection of Croatia's borders with Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia.
In this light, Šarec called for expanding Frontex's powers and for addressing the issue of internal Schengen border controls "in European spirit".
Nevertheless, both heads of government praised very good bilateral ties, in particular business links.
Trade between Slovenia and Austria stands at above EUR 5bn a year, with Austria the biggest foreign investor in Slovenia with around 1,000 companies, Kurz pointed out.
"We have lively movement of people, national communities in both countries and strong cultural ties," the Austrian chancellor said as he expressed satisfaction that he and Šarec had agreed to further expand cooperation.
On the other hand, Šarec praised Kurz for Austria's efforts during its presidency of the EU, especially with regards to Brexit, which should be "as painless as possible".
The pair also discussed the EU-Africa summit scheduled for this month, which Šarec believes will be a good platform for addressing migrations. The Slovenian prime minister believes that the issue must be tackled "at its source" and not "everyone for themselves".
Another topic on the agenda was the Western Balkans, with Šarec offering Slovenia's help and experience on the countries' path towards Euro-Atlantic alliances.
However, the pair did not address several other bilateral topics such as the situation of the Slovenian minority in Austria or Slovenia's potential notification of its succession to the Austrian State Treaty at the relatively short press conference following the talks.
Šarec meanwhile pointed out that Kurz and he were part of a younger generation of politicians who see the world and Europe somewhat differently. "We don't want constant returning to the past, we like to look forward," he said.
