On Sunday, György Bakondi, Chief Security Advisor to the Prime Minister, told public television channel M1 that Austria’s enhanced border protection measures suggest that the Austrian Government fears that migration routes could shift towards their country.
The Chief Security Advisor was commenting on enhanced border controls introduced by Austrian police at Austrian-Hungarian border crossing points. The aim of these is to find human smugglers and illegal migrants seeking to cross the border. The new measures resulted in a tailback of more than ten kilometres at the Hegyeshalom border crossing point. Mr. Bakondi said that Austria has also started construction works for a border protection fence on the Italian border section, at the Brenner Pass.
Mr. Bakondi explained that the obvious reason for these measures is continued migration and forecasts for the summer period.
Mr. Bakondi added that significant migration activity can also be observed along the Western Balkan route. More and more migrants are arriving in Italy through Libya and via other routes, and it is to be expected that they will also try to continue their journeys towards Austria or Germany.