We agreed ... that next week there will be a meeting of the German, Austrian and Italian interior ministers with the goal of taking measures to shut the Mediterranean route into Europe, to make sure that illegal immigration to Europe on this route is stopped.

Sebastian Kurz

More Quotes by Sebastian Kurz
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More Quotes From Sebastian Kurz

Austria can only be strong if we are not just members of the European Union but also actively help to strengthen the European Union.

Sebastian Kurz
be-stronghelpeuropean-unionstrong

Doing the right thing is a decision, which in many cases means you stand alone.

Sebastian Kurz
standaloneyoudecision

Integration is a give and take.

Sebastian Kurz
givetakegive-and-takeintegration

Remembering in an honest way means admitting the truth.

Sebastian Kurz
rememberinghonesttruthway

We have religious freedom - which is important. But we want everyone in our country to respect our laws, and our laws on Islam say it is not acceptable to have influence abroad on the Muslim community in Austria, and it is not acceptable that Islamic organizations or imams are financed from abroad.

Sebastian Kurz
islamrespectfreedomcommunity

In 2015, the majority of refugees and migrants reached the European Union through Greece. Greek authorities were overwhelmed by the sheer number of people arriving at their shores. But they did not stay there. They were waved through to Central Europe at an increasing pace.

Sebastian Kurz
staythrougheuropean-unionpeople

We are not against immigration, but we want to have control on immigration. We want to decide who is allowed to come into Austria. We should not let human traffickers decide.

Sebastian Kurz
decidecontrolimmigrationwant

A Europe without internal borders can only exist if it has functioning external borders.

Sebastian Kurz
withoutonlyborderseurope

Luckily, Europe, step by step, recognised that these mass refugee movements to Europe cannot work.

Sebastian Kurz
cannotstepworkeurope

We have a problem with political Islam in Austria.

Sebastian Kurz
austriaislampoliticalproblem

In Greece, refugees are being waved through to the heart of Europe. That is simply unacceptable in the long run. The European Union cannot act like a human trafficker.

Sebastian Kurz
runlikeheartlong

When I started in government, I said that children who come here should take German classes before they start regular classes so they can follow what the teachers say. I said it should be possible to be a believing Muslim and a proud Austrian at the same time.

Sebastian Kurz
proudgovernmenttimechildren

I'm always careful in generalising things.

Sebastian Kurz
thingsalwayscareful

It's never good to turn to comparisons with Nazis.

Sebastian Kurz
comparisonsturnnevergood

Forcing states to take refugees doesn't take Europe any further.

Sebastian Kurz
forcingrefugeestakeeurope

Stopping and returning illegal migrants to their countries of origin must become standard procedure.

Sebastian Kurz
originreturningmustbecome

Between the summer of 2015 and spring 2016, Austria became one of the European countries most affected by the migration and refugee crisis.

Sebastian Kurz
migrationcrisissummerspring

Austria is a very export-oriented country.

Sebastian Kurz
veryaustriacountry

We are not a superpower like the U.S. We are a small and neutral country.

Sebastian Kurz
smalllikesuperpowercountry

We are also trying to fight successfully in the European Union against anti-Semitism. Because of Austria's history, it is, from my point of view, our obligation to do that.

Sebastian Kurz
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