Austrian Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka has called for an indefinite extension of border controls until mid-May, saying "unless the external borders are adequately protected, we will continue to take action at national level."
"In the context of public order and internal security, I just need to know who is entering the country," Sobotka said in an interview with the German newspaper Die Welt today. He is optimistic that the necessary consent will be given by Brussels to extend the controls, following a recommendation from the European Commission.
According to the German newspaper, the European Commission is expected to announce next week its decision on an extension of border controls under Article 29 of the Schengen Treaty.
Following a recommendation from the Commission, the Council of Interior Ministers had authorized five countries in early February to extend border controls for a further three months, until mid-May, at the same time calling for consultation with neighboring countries and necessary and logical level.
In the Schengen area there is free movement, while exceptions are possible only for a limited time and in this context, since the peak of the refugee crisis in 2015, Austria, Germany, Denmark and Sweden, as well as Norway, which is not a member EU, carry out border controls.
Just last Friday, Slovenia called on Austria to suspend border controls, and Ljubljana's letter to Interior Minister Vesna Gierκέςk ίνidar to European Commission Vice-President Franz Timmermans and Commissioner Deutsche Welle. that an extension of border controls at the Slovenian-Austrian border would be unfounded.
Slovenia would resolutely oppose a possible European Commission proposal to extend border controls until 12 May, the Slovenian interior minister said in a letter, adding that her country would demand a specific justification for such a proposal. her next steps.
According to her, the controls on the Slovenian-Austrian border lead to long delays, especially before the road tunnel of the Caravanken Mountains, where the situation will be critical during the summer holidays, while, in her view, "the controls hinder the free movement of persons, cause financial damage and negatively affect the cooperation in the border areas "with the benefits being minimal, reports the Athenian News Agency.
The Slovenian Minister of the Interior also pointed out that the Austrian authorities deported only 2016 people to Slovenia in 76, who had crossed the border illegally to Austria, while this year, since the beginning of the year, the corresponding deportations amounted to only 11 and the negligible This figure proves that the measures taken by Slovenia are effective.
Source: Newsbeast