Austria snubs EU with migrant cap launch as rift widens

Austria on Friday introduced a new daily cap on asylum seekers, which could trigger a domino effect of border clampdowns on the Balkan migrant trail from Greece up to northern Europe.

The move sparked anger from the European Union, which hopes on sealing a pact with Turkey to stem the migration crisis at a special summit in early March. A maximum of 80 migrants per day are now being allowed to claim asylum in Austria. Vienna is also limiting the daily number of people transiting through to seek asylum in a neighbouring state to 3,200.

Brussels on Thursday slammed the “unilateral actions” as “incompatible with European Union law”. Instead EU leaders, spearheaded by Germany, are supporting a deal with Ankara under which Turkey would close its borders and then fly refugees to Europe for resettlement under a quota plan.

“We agreed that our joint action plan with Turkey remains a priority and we must do all we can to succeed,” European Council president Donald Tusk said early Friday at a two-day EU summit. Big rifts have opened up in the 28-member bloc as the continent grapples with its biggest migration crisis since World War II.