02/08/2001 (Agence Europe) - The Austrian Home Office Minister organised a meeting in Salzburg last weekend with his counterparts from the four neighbouring candidate countries and Poland, as well as with European Commissioner Antonio Vitorino. According to reports in Le Monde, the ministers of the candidate countries foremost complained of the way the EU viewed their ability to manage their "external" borders, which separate them from other countries that will not join the EU. "We have done a lot to conform to EU demands regarding the fight against crime. The Commission knows that but says nothing, thus leading to a loss of confidence", is what Polish Home Affairs Minister Mr. Stachanczyk, is said to have declared. Commissioner Vitorino, for his part, recalled that 60% of the 460 million euro so far devoted by the European Union to Justice and Home Affairs in candidate countries had served to strengthen the borders. The Austrian Minister spoke of "distribution of the burden", for increased EU solidarity in the matter.