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13:0322.03.1722.03.1722.03.17 13:03 13:03 13:03 Federal Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs Minoritenplatz 8 A-1010 Vienna Tel: During office hours on work days between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. (01) 90 115-0 / int.: (+43-1) 90 115-0 Toll-free service: (0800) 234 888 (not available for calls from outside Austria) Fax: (01) 904 20 16-0 / int.: (+43-1) 904 20 16-0 Email: [email protected] Internet: www.bmeia.gv.at Citizens’ Desk In case of emergency abroad the Citizens’ Desk can be reached 24 hours a day: Tel: (01) 90 115-4411 / int.: (+43-1) 90 115-4411 Fax: (01) 904 20 16-245 / int.: (+43-1) 904 20 16-245 Email: [email protected] Assistance services available to Austrian citizens abroad are detailed on the website of the Federal Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs at www.bmeia.gv.at.  FOREIGN AND EUROPEAN POLICY REPORT 2015 Report by the Federal Minister for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs  With the entry into force of the amendment to the Federal Ministries Act on 1 March 2014, the Foreign Ministry was renamed FederalMinistry 2014 forEurope,IntegrationandForeignAffairsas its scope of responsibilities within the Federal Government was expanded to include integration mat- -ters. For reasons of enhanced readability, however, either MinistryforFor -eignAffairs(MFA) or ForeignMinistry are used in the English language edi tion of the Foreign Policy Report. Proprietor and Publisher: Federal Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs A-1010 Vienna, Minoritenplatz 8 Austria ISBN: 978-3-902965-14-1 (print) 978-3-902965-15-8 (ePub) Edited and coordinated by: Michael Haider English translation coordinated by: Sabine Hübler Production: Berger Crossmedia GmbH & Co KG .Based on Außen-undEuropapolitischerBericht2015 ,BerichtdesBundesministersfürEuropa .IntegrationundÄußeres.Wien,2016  Foreword From the Austrian perspective, the year 2015 was both a special and an intensive one. After years of controversy, the nuclear negotiations with Iran were eventually brought to a successful conclusion in Vienna, we celebrated the 20th anniversary of our membership of the European Union (EU) and at the same time, the refugee and migration crisis confronted us with one of the most substantial challenges the EU has experienced since its inception. These and many of the other topics we were faced with last year, made it very clear that reacting to topical events requires a high level of flexibility. At the same time, however, we must not lose sight of our long-term foreign and European policy goals. 1. Refugee and migration crisis Since last spring, the refugee and migration crisis has confronted us with a new and enormous challenge whose impact continues to remain on our agenda. Last year, Austria took in some 90,000 asylum seekers. This is the second highest number of asylum seekers per capita of all European coun- tries. From the very outset, I have cautioned against a policy of uncontrolled admittance, stressing that this cannot be a sustainable option – neither for Austria nor for Europe. Particularly the policy of “waving through” towards Central Europe along the Western Balkans route has put an excessive strain not only on the transit countries but also, and in particular, on the target countries, such as Austria. Right at the beginning of the migration crisis in August 2015, I had called for dealing with this topic at EU level among the Foreign Affairs Ministers. In this context, my focus was on developing a holistic approach covering the following five aspects: 1.) Countering the root causes, inter alia in Syria and Libya, 2.) Safety, secu- rity and support for refugees on the ground,
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