Austrian Government to Reduce Migrant Intake to 30,000-40,000 Annually

The Austrian federal government and some provincial governors have agreed to reduce migration to the country to 30,000-40,000 people per year, local media reported Wednesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – According to the Kurier newspaper, ahead of today's refugee summit to be attended by Austrian state governors and ministers of the federal government, a guideline to accept no more than 120,000 refugees over the next three or four years has been reached. This figure is equal to about 1.5 percent of Austria's nearly 8.5 million population.

According to Vice-Chancellor Reinhold Mitterlehner, as quoted by the media outlet, these restrictions "are still to be legally clarified."

According to Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz, Austria received about 90,000 applications for asylum in 2015, three times more than in 2014.

Earlier this week, the Austrian government enhanced the country's measures to defend state borders against illegal border crossings. In particular, some 500 newly deployed troops are to assist police on Austria’s southern border in conducting personal security and identity checks on every migrant arriving in the country.

Europe continues to face a major refugee crisis, as hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers from conflict-torn countries in North Africa, the Middle East, Central and South Asia attempt to escape poverty and violence in their home countries.