Austria’s Interior Minister Gerhard Karner travelled to Helsinki on 27 October 2025 for a working meeting with his Finnish counterpart Mari Rantanen. The visit comes as several EU member-states search for ways to restart forced returns to Afghanistan and Syria after Kabul’s Taliban government and Damascus signalled limited readiness to receive nationals with serious criminal records.
During the meeting, the two ministers endorsed a plan to organise joint EU charter flights departing from Vienna and Helsinki as early as the first quarter of 2026. Under the draft scheme, Austria would contribute escorts and operational funding while Finland would provide aircraft capacity through its border-guard fleet. Both sides will seek Frontex co-financing and invite like-minded states such as Greece and Denmark to participate.
Karner underlined that “efficient returns remain the missing link in European migration management” and argued that criminals who have exhausted all legal remedies must be removed swiftly to protect public security. Rantanen echoed the call, noting that Finland faces a sharp rise in rejected asylum seekers from the two war-torn countries and that isolated national efforts are both costly and legally vulnerable.
Human-rights NGOs criticised the initiative, pointing to the recent UN assessment that large parts of both Afghanistan and Syria are still unsafe for returnees. Vienna maintains, however, that returns will focus on offenders who pose a serious threat and will be accompanied by an individual risk assessment.
For multinational companies operating in Austria, the announcement signals that the government will keep its hard-line stance on irregular migration going into the 2026 election cycle. While the measure does not directly affect corporate transferees, HR teams should expect continued political scrutiny of humanitarian residence permits and a likely tightening of compliance checks in the work-permit process.
During the meeting, the two ministers endorsed a plan to organise joint EU charter flights departing from Vienna and Helsinki as early as the first quarter of 2026. Under the draft scheme, Austria would contribute escorts and operational funding while Finland would provide aircraft capacity through its border-guard fleet. Both sides will seek Frontex co-financing and invite like-minded states such as Greece and Denmark to participate.
Karner underlined that “efficient returns remain the missing link in European migration management” and argued that criminals who have exhausted all legal remedies must be removed swiftly to protect public security. Rantanen echoed the call, noting that Finland faces a sharp rise in rejected asylum seekers from the two war-torn countries and that isolated national efforts are both costly and legally vulnerable.
Human-rights NGOs criticised the initiative, pointing to the recent UN assessment that large parts of both Afghanistan and Syria are still unsafe for returnees. Vienna maintains, however, that returns will focus on offenders who pose a serious threat and will be accompanied by an individual risk assessment.
For multinational companies operating in Austria, the announcement signals that the government will keep its hard-line stance on irregular migration going into the 2026 election cycle. While the measure does not directly affect corporate transferees, HR teams should expect continued political scrutiny of humanitarian residence permits and a likely tightening of compliance checks in the work-permit process.
