This morning Sunak was welcomed to Vienna with military honours. This is the first official visit of a British prime minister since David Cameron in 2015, BTA reports.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer today demonstrated their unity on migration issues, the Austrian news agency APA reported.
At a joint press conference, Nehammer said the UK was an “innovator” and “strategic partner” in asylum procedures in third countries. Sunak described illegal migration as “one of the defining issues of our time”.
The focus of the conversations between Nehamer and Sunak were migration issues, but current geopolitical topics such as the situation in the Middle East and the war in Ukraine were also touched upon. The issue of the Western Balkans was also discussed.
The Conservative British government has been planning for some time to send some irregular asylum seekers to Rwanda, East Africa.
Britain's High Court has so far blocked the plan, but in April parliament in London passed a new law that will allow the government to send asylum seekers to Rwanda.
There they will have the opportunity to apply for asylum and, if their application is granted, to settle there. The legislation affects those who arrived illegally in the UK after 1 January 2022.
This law declares Rwanda a safe third country and aims to largely prevent deportation appeals in British courts. The first flights are planned for July, APA recalled.