Austria gathered to strengthen border controls despite the Schengen rules
Moscow. May 4. INTERFAX.RU — the Austrian Government intends to amend the rules of movement within the Schengen area and extend the borders of the country.
Earlier this week the European Commission recommended that Austria, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway in the next six months to gradually cancel temporarily put some control on the internal borders of the Schengen area.
In addition, the European Commission advised the member States to resort to “other measures that could provide the same level of security, in particular, to a proportional police control in border areas and along important transportation corridors”.
“If the European Commission now says that the strengthening of control measures at borders after November, it is impossible for legal reasons, so we have to adapt the law and thus provide for additional control measures,” — said on Thursday to journalists the Minister of defence of Austria Hans Peter Doskocil.
In turn, the Minister of foreign Affairs Sebastian Kurz said in a broadcast on Austrian public radio that “if border control is necessary because of the rising number of illegal migrants, so we do not hide behind bureaucratic rules, but to make the border control is possible.”
While the European Commission noted “significant progress” in improving security at external EU borders and reduce illegal migration in recent months. In Brussels report that full deployment of the European Agency for border protection and the coast guard consistently since its launch on 6 October 2016. In addition, thanks to the actions in the Declaration of the EU-Turkey the number of illegal arrivals to Greece decreased by 97%.