Austria and Czech Republic reinstate checks on Slovakia border

Austria and Czech Republic reinstate checks on Slovakia border
Austria and Czech Republic reinstate checks on Slovakia border
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Written by Harry Johnson

Border controls are necessary in order to curb the flow of illegal migrants from Slovakia into the neighboring EU states.

The governments of the Czech Republic and Austria announced that they are reintroducing border controls on their borders with Slovakia.

All three countries are part of the EU visa-free Schengen zone, but according to Czech and Austrian government officials, border controls are necessary in order to curb the flow of illegal migrants from Slovakia into the neighboring EU states.

“Austria will introduce border controls at the Slovakian-Austrian border from midnight,” Austrian chancellor’s spokesman wrote on Twitter today.

Austria’s Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said that the border controls are being introduced as part of the “consistent fight against the smuggling mafia, consistent fight against illegal migration.”

According to the minister, Austria had to act “faster than the people-smuggling mafia” to protect itself, after Czech Republic announced that it would reinstate checks on its border with Slovakia from tomorrow.

Austria’s announcement came a day after a border check reinstatement declaration from the Czech Republic.

Explaining the decision to reintroduce border controls with Slovakia, the Czech Republic’s Interior Ministry said that almost 12,000 illegal migrants, the majority from Syria, were detained this year. This is more than during the migration crisis of 2015, the ministry said, adding that a total of 125 human smugglers have also been arrested this year – also a significant increase from previous years.

Austrian border checks would be carried out at 11 border crossing points for an initial period of ten days.

Despite being part of the visa-free zone, Schengen countries have been repeatedly reinstating border controls over the past few years, both due to the rise in migration and because of the pandemic.

Austria introduced border controls on its Slovenian and Hungarian borders before. The majority of human traffickers, Austrian officials say, prefer to use Hungary as a transit territory to reach the wealthier Western countries.

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer is planning to meet with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic next week to discuss the issue of illegal migration.

According to the Austrian Interior Ministry, between January and August 2022, Austria received more than 56,000 asylum applications – an increase of 195% compared to the same period of the previous year. Most of the applications are currently coming from Indian nationals, the ministry said, but there are more and more Pakistani, Moroccan and Tunisian citizens appearing among those applying.

About the author

Avatar of Harry Johnson

Harry Johnson

Harry Johnson has been the assignment editor for eTurboNews for mroe than 20 years. He lives in Honolulu, Hawaii, and is originally from Europe. He enjoys writing and covering the news.

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