(Brussels) “Immigration is our biggest challenge, and it is endangering the future of the European Union”: this was said yesterday by the president of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani, after meeting the Austrian Prime Minister, Sebastian Kurz, in Vienna. Austria will take over the presidency of the EU on July 1^st. “In the next six months, under the leadership of the Austrian presidency, the EU and the member states – Tajani added – will have to give effective answers to the concerns of 500 million citizens, and they cannot afford to fail”. The president of the European Parliament explained: “There can be no solution to immigration unless it is on a European level and based on a short-, medium- and long-term strategy. We must immediately provide 6 billion euros to stop people leaving North Africa, as we did to close the Balkan route. At the same time, we must support Libya in its attempt at stabilisation and democratic strengthening”. Then, Tajani went back to an issue that has been repeatedly raised: “In addition, we must allocate 40 billion euros to an African Marshall Plan, in order to create opportunities for young Africans in their home countries”.
At the end of his speech, Tajani mentioned the importance of next June’s European Council and called the EU leaders to prove to be more assertive: “The EU’s first reform – he said – is not the reform of the Treaties, it is finding the courage to go back to political decisions that respond to our citizens’ priorities, first and foremost the reform of the European asylum system”. Tajani also met the Austrian President, Alexander Van der Bellen, with whom he discussed the future of Europe and emphasised Austria’s key role in Eastern Europe and in the Balkans.