Austria: EU summit focus on Brexit, migration, cool tension

PARIS – Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz says Brexit and bridge-building will be centre-stage at a two-day European Union summit this week.

Kurz met with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Monday, having met the previous day with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

“We have to do everything to avoid a hard Brexit,” Kurz said. On immigration, he added, European external borders must be secured and frontline countries like Greece and Italy “need our support.”

Macron added to the list, saying the EU can advance on the migration issue “by respecting our values,” an apparent reference to Hungary, rebuked last week for hard-line policies, including on migration.

The summit starts Wednesday in the Austrian city of Salzburg.