Prospect of refugee crisis strains EU leaders

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has refused to take in people fleeing Afghanistan as other leaders of the European Union and its member states grapple with the prospect of a possible influx of refugees after the Taliban took over power last week.

In an interview with broadcaster Puls 24 on Sunday, the Austrian leader was "clearly against the fact that we now voluntarily accept more people－that will not happen under my chancellorship either".

The 34-year-old noted that Austria has accepted more than 40,000 Afghans in the past few years, calling it a "disproportionately large contribution". He said controlling immigration is integral to protecting Austria's cultural identity.

His words came as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Saturday called on the international community to help resettle refugees, while promising more EU humanitarian aid for Afghanistan.

She stressed the need for other non-EU countries to assist and described plans to first place Afghan refugees outside of the EU, adding that she would raise the issue at a G7 virtual meeting on Afghanistan on Tuesday.

Many EU states are worried about another refugee crisis like the one they faced in 2015 largely as a result of the wars in Libya and Syria. The tensions have been attributed to the rise of populist movements in the bloc.

French President Emmanuel Macron said last week that Europe alone cannot shoulder the consequences of the situation in Afghanistan, and that EU "must anticipate and protect ourselves against significant irregular migratory flows".

At a meeting of interior ministers last week, EU officials said the most important lesson from 2015 was not to leave Afghans adrift, and that without urgent humanitarian help they will start moving toward Europe.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who took the heat for her generous refugee policy years ago, said last week that Germany could grant asylum to about 10,000 Afghans.

But some German politicians, including Armin Laschet－the Christian Democratic Union's candidate to succeed Merkel in the national election next month－warned that there must be "no repeat" of the 2015 migration crisis.

Greek Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi said on Wednesday that Greece will not accept being the "gateway for irregular flows into the EU" and that it considers Turkey to be a safe place for Afghans.

But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday that Turkey has no duty, responsibility or obligation to be Europe's refugee warehouse. The country now hosts 3.6 million Syrians and hundreds of thousands of Afghans.

Jeff Crisp, a research associate of the Refugee Studies Centre at the University of Oxford and former senior official at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, wrote in a tweet that the EU may not have an influx of Afghan refugees.

"It is difficult to leave Afghanistan. Pakistan and Turkey are reinforcing their borders. It's a very long and expensive journey, and Greece will push them back if they make it that far," he said.

Agencies contributed to this story.