Austria introduces border controls with Slovakia

By Timo Kirez

GENEVA (AA) - Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner announced Tuesday that Austria is introducing border controls with Slovakia.

The controls will start at midnight Tuesday and last 10 days, but can be extended if necessary, Karner said at a news conference in Vienna.

He said the controls will focus primarily on gangs of traffickers, rather than "the small commuters." The measures will help Vienna prevent evasion routes of traffickers through Austria, he said.

Slovakia is increasingly facing a rising number of illegal migrants entering on their way to Germany and Western Europe.

Czech Republic Prime Minister Petr Fiala wrote on X that his country is also introducing random checks at its border with Slovakia due to the increasing flow of migrants into the EU.

He added that it is coordinating with Poland, which is introducing similar controls.

The government in Bratislava reacted with incomprehension to the announced controls.

"Migration needs a European solution for external borders," Slovak Prime Minister Ludovit Odor said in a statement.

"If one country starts guarding its border more, it will lead to a cascade effect that we will all pay for, and the result will be very unclear," he added.

The Austrian government of the conservative OVP and the Greens has been pursuing a stricter migration policy since last summer. As a result, in the first half of 2023, the number of asylum applications fell by 30% compared to the same period last year, according to the Interior Ministry.

Vienna also relies on fast-track and expedited procedures in the asylum process, which take 28 days and 72 hours, respectively. In addition, the number of deportations is high.

Austria also supports Serbia, Hungary and Northern Macedonia with more than 130 police officers, who assist local border authorities in those countries during controls.