Cika jumla mai zuwa: A cikin shekara ta 2015
rikicin bakin haure, Kern ya shirya jigilar daruruwan dubban bakin haure da ke zuwa daga "hanyar Balkan" a duk faɗin ƙasar. An dauke shi a matsayin mai goyon bayan Chancellor Angela Merkel na Jamus manufofin shige da fice. Jagoran kungiyar kwadago ta Austriya, wanda kuma shine shugaban kwamitin ma'aikata na ÖBB ya bayyana Kern a cikin 2016 a matsayin "shugaban ÖBB na farko da ya tsaya tare da ma'aikatansa".