With this move, Austria follows the example of the Czech Republic and Poland, which also announced checks on the Slovak border.
For now, border control will be reset for ten days.
Karner emphasized that this measure aims to prevent human traffickers from using bypass roads through Austria. As he said, he consulted by phone with his Czech and Polish colleagues before making the decision.
He added that Slovakia had already been informed of all this. “We do this because we know, based on our experience so far, that when such controls are imposed, human traffickers react quickly and change their routes,” he said.
The minister noted that in recent months, the number of detained migrants and the number of asylum applications submitted have decreased, due to intensive inspections at the Hungarian and Slovenian borders. Extending this to the Slovak border section serves to eliminate “control gaps.”
In addition to all this, cooperation with safe third countries, countries of origin and countries of transit is also essential in the fight against illegal migration, Karner added, MTI reported.
