Austria will extend its border controls for another six months with Slovenia and Hungary, starting from mid-May, Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said today, quoted by the Slovenian agency STA, writes BTA.
Karner today visited the Spiele border crossing on the Austrian-Slovenian border together with the governor of the federal state of Styria, Christopher Drexler, to learn about the current problems and challenges in the field of migration. He also met with Slovenian official representatives.
Austria introduced controls at the internal Schengen borders with Slovenia and Hungary as early as 2015 at the height of the refugee crisis, notes STA. Since then, the control has been extended every six months. The latest extension is effective from November 12 last year.
„This border crossing proves, like no other, that it is important to strictly and consistently fight illegal human trafficking,”, Karner said, and emphasized the importance of border control in the fight against illegal migration.
Border control is carried out along the Austrian borders with Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, although all these countries are part of Schengen, notes the Slovenian edition of regional television En 1.
„At the moment we see that the latest measures and the increased pressure on the borders are having an effect and that human traffickers are already avoiding Austria,”, Karner also pointed out.
Slovenia has long opposed the extension of Austrian border controls. The country also refers to the decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union that the expansion of border control due to the threat of illegal migration is not in accordance with EU law. The country is calling on Austria to end the implementation of temporary border controls, but to no avail so far.
Due to the increase in illegal migration and the fight against human trafficking in recent years, several EU member states have introduced temporary border controls with neighboring countries that are part of the Schengen area. Italy introduced controls at its border with Slovenia, and Slovenia introduced controls with Hungary and Croatia, which joined Schengen in early 2023. Most recently, controls at the Slovenian-Croatian and Slovenian-Hungarian borders were extended in December for six months.