Border checks with Slovakia have been carried out in Lower Austria and Burgenland since midnight on Wednesday. The Austrian government is taking the same step as the Czech and Polish governments towards the neighboring country. No incidents have occurred so far, reports Chief Inspector Johann Baumschlager of the Lower Austria State Police Directorate.
In Berg (Bruck an der Leitha district) there were short traffic jams in the morning. Every vehicle is checked, the emphasis is on small trucks. There is a second crossing to Slovakia in Lower Austria in Hohenau an der March (Gänserndorf district). According to the Ministry of the Interior, 24 smugglers operating from the neighboring country were arrested during the checks from late September 2022 to early February 2023.
Here you see a tweet from the Ministry of the Interior.
No traffic jams in Kittsee
The aim this time is to prevent smugglers from taking alternative routes, Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) said on Tuesday. In Kittsee (Neusiedl am See district), the only crossing from Burgenland, the checks have so far not caused any traffic jams or obstacles. Police have been on duty since midnight, traffic is flowing and there have been no major incidents, a spokesman for the Burgenland state police directorate said.
Many migrants arrested in the Czech Republic
Czech and Polish police also started tightening controls at the border with Slovakia on Wednesday (see video above). More than twenty migrants, most of them from Syria, were arrested in the Czech Republic within the first few hours. The checks were carried out randomly at 17 road, seven rail and three waterway crossings and along the approximately 250 kilometer long green border.
The Polish Border Guard started stricter checks at the eight road and three rail border crossings with Slovakia. The Slovak government now wants to introduce temporary controls at the border with Hungary. According to government information, this is a countermeasure. In September alone, as many people came to Slovakia via Hungary as in all of 2022.
The German government has also tightened border controls with Poland and the Czech Republic. Both the Austrian and Slovak checks should initially be carried out for ten days.
Source: Krone
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