Austria, Netherlands, Slovakia to reinstate border controls

Austria, the Netherlands and Slovakia are to reinstate border controls for a temporary period of time in a further blow to Europe’s policy of open borders and as a desperate bid to stem the tide of refugees.

Austrian Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner told reporters in the Belgian capital of Brussels on Monday that the country will follow Germany’s lead in checking borders regardless of what happens to the old European treaty known as Schengen.

“Yes, we will proceed as Germany did, which means that temporary controls at the borders are permitted in the framework of Schengen, and we will conduct these temporary border controls,” Mikl-Leitner said.

The move is a further setback to Schengen, one day after Germany announced it would introduce document checks at its border with Austria.

Austrian officials said the decision was a direct response to Berlin’s reinstatement of controls, saying it was simply needed to stem the flow of refugees.

“If Germany does border controls, then Austria must also strengthen border controls - in the interest of the domestic population - and we are doing this now,” Austrian Vice Chancellor Reinhold Mitterlehner said, adding, “This will also be a clear signal in the direction of those affected that the disorderly crossing of the border can no longer take place in the future.”

More than 2,200 Austrian soldiers will be sent to the borders with Hungary to help the police and border guards check the documents. They will also be assigned with a humanitarian mission to support the flow of asylum seekers.

Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann said border checks would not affect the refugees’ right for making an asylum request, saying, however, that other countries in Europe should assist Germany and Austria in accepting more refugees.

Germany’s introduction of border checks came just two weeks after Chancellor Angela Merkel said the controls are detrimental to "the Europe we want." 

Netherlands, Slovakia also put border checks in place

Also on Monday, Dutch news agency ANP reported that Dutch police will also carry out spot border checks in another blow to border-free travel in Europe.

"We will increase mobile controls in the border regions," spokeswoman Yvonne Wiggers said, citing a decision by Junior Minister for Security and Justice, Klaas Dijkhoff. The measures were expected to take immediate effect.

According to the Dutch immigration service, about 3,000 refugees entered the Netherlands last week, twice the number from the previous week.

Meanwhile, Slovakia's Interior Ministry announced that it had renewed border checks along Hungary and Austria frontiers.

In an announcement issued on Monday, the ministry said 220 extra officers have been deployed at border crossings and along the border, adding it was coordinating with police forces in the two neighboring countries as well as with those in the Czech Republic.

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