timetable
Border control with the Czech Republic will be extended again – this is confirmed by the Ministry of the Interior. This is necessary to combat the smuggling and terrorism mafia. Austria currently also controls the borders with Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia.
Border control with the Czech Republic is in effect until April 16. This is the second extension since the controls were imposed in October. The extension is necessary because the protection of the EU's external borders and the Schengen system is not working, noe.ORF.at requested from the Ministry of the Interior (BMI).
In order to combat smuggling and terrorism, surveillance is being expanded on the border with the Czech Republic – because “terrorism is also financed by the smuggling mafia,” says the BMI.
More than 700 smugglers were arrested last year
There are currently controls on the borders with Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia; According to BMI, there are “intensive controls in the area near the border” at all other borders. “Controls are necessary to plug loopholes in the surveillance network and thus prevent evasive movements by the smuggling mafia,” she says. According to BMI, 725 smugglers were arrested across Austria last year.
Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) said in a press conference with Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann on Tuesday that there had already been a “significant decrease in arrests” at the Burgenland border, and that smugglers were now “avoiding Austria.” Tuesday.
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