Border control with Slovakia, which began on October 4, will be extended in consultation with Poland and the Czech Republic. The Ministry of Interior counted more than 500 arrests this year.
Border control with Slovakia will be extended for another 20 days. This was announced by Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) at a press conference on Thursday afternoon. The Head of the Department referred to the corresponding discussions with his counterparts in the Czech Republic and Poland.
Border controls initially began on 4 October and were initially limited to ten days. The argument was that smuggling routes should be prevented.
This step is being taken in close coordination with the Czech Republic, which, together with Poland, has expanded the scope of surveillance on the border with Slovakia, as well as in coordination with the Slovak security authorities. The measure against smuggling crimes was originally supposed to end on Saturday, but will remain in effect until November 2.
The “green border” may not be crossed.
Police will continue to control the eleven official border crossings with the neighboring country until the beginning of November. During this time, crossing the “green border” is not permitted. According to the Ministry of Interior, inspections at border crossings are carried out in particular against criminal smugglers and aim to disrupt passenger movement as little as possible. At the same time, the border area is also under increased surveillance. “The police must be faster than criminal traffickers who immediately change routes when their business is disrupted. To ensure there are no evasive movements across Austria, we maintain border point controls. Arrests of more than 500 people this year alone show that the police Constantly combating smuggling crimes.
The criticism came from News. The fact that the Interior Minister has now coordinated with his Czech and Polish counterparts is by no means a sufficient reason to expand the scope of controls, as Neuss Club vice-president Niki Chirac criticized. “It is simply not possible for individual member states, including Austria, to continue to close their borders – and then extend border closures permanently.”
“Good results and clear effects” in Poland
According to the German News Agency, Poland and the Czech Republic are also extending their temporary controls on the border with Slovakia until the beginning of November as part of the fight against smuggling crimes. In Prague, the conservative liberal government approved the corresponding regulation on Wednesday evening. It was said in Prague that this follows decisions taken in neighboring countries. Cross-border traffic should be obstructed as little as possible. There are good results and obvious effects. Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski said on Thursday, justifying his decision: “There will be no routes for illegal immigration through Poland.” Slovakia continues to conduct random checks on the border with Hungary. All four countries belong to the Schengen Area, in which there should not actually be any border controls.
Since stricter controls began in Slovakia on October 4, Czech police say they have screened 43,749 people. 283 migrants who entered illegally were arrested, and twelve smugglers were arrested. According to Polish Interior Minister Kaminski, about 550 migrants who arrived illegally have been arrested at the Polish-Slovak border since the start of monitoring. (Abba)
