New Border Protection Concept Commissioned

Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) announced on Monday that the Austrian border protection concept is to be further developed and adapted to the changed situation in the area of illegal migration. He has tasked the Directorate General for Public Security with creating a new concept by mid-December, he said during a working meeting with Slovak Interior Minister Matúš Šutaj-Eštok in Kittsee (district of Neusiedl am See).

"Smuggler Mafia Avoids Austria"

"Illegal migration has been massively reduced in recent years and is approaching zero. The smuggler mafia avoids Austria. To sustainably secure this development, border protection must be further professionalized and tactically developed," Karner justified the step. The new concept should also include the "Operation Fox" on Hungarian territory and cross-border, coordinated control measures with Slovakia, which were topics at the working meeting.

How exactly the new border protection will look is still open or is yet to be developed. It should in any case be a combination of border point and border area controls. "The goal is to detect illegal migrants and criminals and to allow commuters to pass through as easily as possible," Karner explained after the meeting. "Things that work" should be maintained, others further developed, said the minister.

The section where the two ministers met has been heavily affected by illegal migration in recent years, but this has now been "massively pushed back." In the past week, not a single apprehension was recorded in this area on four days, Karner explained. "We must sustainably secure this development," a tactical further development is needed. It is now sensible to monitor not only the border points but also the border area and to control these areas more intensively. Therefore, "new things are being developed," as well as drawing on experience from "Operation Fox."

At the Burgenland-Hungarian border, the decline in illegal migration is particularly evident according to the Interior Ministry: While in October 2022 nearly 15,000 refugees were apprehended, this year only 180 apprehensions have been recorded. At the same time, only a quarter of the people apprehended in Burgenland this year (around 2,700) have applied for asylum. The others have been asked to leave the federal territory. The new concept should now ensure that the numbers remain the same.

Border Controls to Slovakia

The border controls with Slovakia have been in place for over two years - initially running until December 15. The aim of this measure was to prevent traffickers from diverting from Hungary through Slovak and finally onto Austrian territory, according to the Ministry of the Interior.

Šutaj-Eštok Against "False Solidarity"

Another topic during the working meeting, according to Šutaj-Eštok, was the asylum pact at the European level, where the Slovak Minister of the Interior spoke out against "false solidarity" and distribution quotas. However, this is not only a European but a global problem. It should therefore be discussed with third countries.

Karner emphasized that he agrees with his Slovak counterpart on the asylum pact: "The EU's external borders must function and be secure." One possibility would be to conduct asylum procedures in third countries, countries outside the EU. They are striving for a comprehensive package so that there is "less pressure" on Europe. "We are absolutely against distribution," this is not an option for Austria, Karner further emphasized. Šutaj-Eštok also sees this merely as an "invitation for traffickers." According to Karner, the package also includes deportations to countries like Afghanistan. The two ministers also discussed the issue of online radicalization of young people. Both generally emphasized the good, neighborly relationship.

Criticism from SPÖ Burgenland and FPÖ

SPÖ Burgenland spoke out against a "softening" of border controls ahead of the working meeting. Club chairman Roland Fürst stated in a press release: "Just because we currently see lower apprehension numbers and a decline in asylum applications does not mean that this condition will remain permanent. The smuggler networks react extremely quickly to any change. Any relaxation of controls would immediately hit Austria - and especially Burgenland - hard again."

The FPÖ criticized Karner's appearance at the border as a "pure self-promotion show." The declining apprehension numbers are attributed by the Freedom Party to the border protection of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. With 14,325 asylum applications so far this year, it cannot be said that illegal migration is "heading towards zero," said Gernot Darmann, the Freedom Party's security spokesman in the federal government.

(APA/Red)

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