EU Migrant Policy Unattainable in Short-Term, National Approach Needed

Austria's Finance Minister Hans-Joerg Schelling said that of the some 1.5 million refugees who have arrived in Europe, 1.3 million have chosen to stay in Germany, Austria and Sweden.

VIENNA (Sputnik) — The European Union will not be able to bring the flow of refugees under control through a coordinated policy, so the member nations need to make decisions accordingly at a national level,  Austria's Finance Minister Hans-Joerg Schelling said on Tuesday.

On Saturday, Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann announced that Vienna was temporarily suspending the Schengen Agreement and toughening border checks.

"Now we have a problem with the direction and organization of refugee flows. We have reached our capacity. And this problem should be solved. I'm sure we will not be able to do this, to achieve a European solution within the European Union in the coming months, so we need to tackle it at the national level," he said at the Euromoney Conference in Vienna.

Schelling added that of the some 1.5 million refugees who have arrived in Europe, 1.3 million have chosen to stay in Germany, Austria and Sweden.

"If we do not get over the migration problem, we will face the even greater challenge of nationalism," the minister stressed.

The European Union is currently struggling to manage a massive refugee crisis, with hundreds of thousands of people fleeing conflict-torn countries in the Middle East and North Africa.