Karner announced: Increasing border controls with Hungary and Slovenia

2023-04-11 16:32:17

Vienna. As immigration pressures in Slovenia and Italy have increased significantly in recent months, the Austrian government has taken action to strengthen border controls.

Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) told Ö1 „Morgenjournal“ on Tuesday that he wanted to extend border controls with Hungary and Slovenia for another six months. Explaining that the current border controls will continue until May 11, Karner said, “We will notify the (EU) Commission these days that we will have to extend these border checks because it is necessary to continue to put the asylum brake on consistently and to prevent asylum abuse” said.

Emphasizing that the EU border protection did not work, Karner explained that Austria had to bear all the costs alone. Minister Karner added that “incredibly high immigration pressure” was experienced in the previous year, so these controls should be maintained.

„Push on the smuggling mafia“ must be increased

Attributing the recent decline in illegal immigration to tight controls, Karner said that the measures taken and the cost are necessary. “While there were 2600 asylum applications in February of this year, there were still 12,000 asylum applications in November 2022. In order to continue on this consistent path, we need to continue with the controls. As long as the EU’s external border protection is not yet operational, this ‘cost of millions’ would have to be covered, but it is necessary for the security of the Austrian population.“ explained in his words.

Emphasizing the need to increase the pressure on the smuggling mafia, Karner reported that 80 smugglers were arrested in the first quarter of this year. (yenivatan.at)