Brussels puzzled over migration nomination for Austria's Magnus Brunner

Austria's Magnus Brunner, a finance minister, has been placed to deal with migration in a move that has left some in Brussels scratching their heads.

Transcript

00:00Magnus Brunner will be the Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration.

00:05Magnus Brunner won't have an easy path to be part of the European Commission.

00:09The current Austrian Finance Minister was chosen by Ursula von der Leyen

00:13to deal with internal affairs and the migration portfolio.

00:16But his profile and Vienna's hard line on border controls

00:19are a source of worries for many in the European Parliament.

00:23First of all, everybody was extremely surprised because his portfolio

00:27as finance minister, expert on energy and so on,

00:30never he showed up in the topic of migration

00:33with some specific knowledge or engagement.

00:36Secondly, also the Austrian government

00:39made some very non-constructive moves in the last years.

00:45They were not very helpful for the migration pact.

00:48They made a veto on the Schengen enlargement for Romania and Bulgaria,

00:53which everybody is saying is extremely counterproductive.

00:57Manfred Weber, president of Brunner's European People's Party,

01:01on the other hand, defends this fig.

01:04Also extremely important issue is to win back control of our borders.

01:09To stop illegal migration in Europe is a key demand

01:12and that's why good to have EPP there in the lead.

01:16For sure, the hearing that Brunner will have to face in the European Parliament

01:20is going to be a hard one.

01:22Socialists, liberals and greens will push against a migration policy

01:25focused only on strengthening borders

01:28and making deals with third parties to take migrants back.

01:31Austria has even called for EU funds to be used for fences.

01:35But what should never ever happen

01:38is the undermining of our fundamental values and human rights.

01:43That's at the core and should always be at the core

01:46of any migration policy and any border policy.

01:50Austrians are electing a new parliament on 29th of September

01:54with far-right party FPÖ leading the polls.

01:58Which means that if Brunner is finally rejected,

02:01the next migration commissioner could come from a different government.