Tuesday, July 4, 2017

Growing migrant inflow: Italian FM summons Austrian ambassador over border controls

The Italian Foreign Ministry has summoned the Austrian ambassador over Vienna’s decision to re-introduce border controls. The move comes as Austria announced it was ready to deploy troops and armored vehicles to the Italian border over the growing migrant inflow.


“We need to prepare for the migration development in Italy, and I expect very promptly that border controls will have to be activated and assistance requested,” Hans Peter Doskozil told the online edition of the Krone daily.

By assistance the official means deploying 750 soldiers and four armored vehicles to the border, and the minister described the measure as “indispensable if the influx doesn’t diminish.” The forces can be fully operational within 72 hours, according to Doskozil.

“These are not battle tanks. These are armored vehicles without weapons which could block roads. These were already used during the refugee crisis 201/16 at the Spielfeld border crossing [with Slovenia],” a spokesman for Doskozil said, as cited by Reuters.

The controls will include the Alpine Brenner pass, which forms the border between Austria and Italy, one of the main mountain passes in the eastern Alps.

There isn’t a strict time plan for the step-up in border security, but, according to Doskozil’s spokesman, “we see how the situation in Italy is becoming more acute and we have to be prepared to avoid a situation comparable to summer 2015.”

Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz has said that Vienna is prepared to “protect” the frontier with Italy “if necessary,” as he spoke with the Austria Press Agency, as cited by AP.

Austria has previously taken harsh measures at its borders: back in 2015, checks were introduced on the frontier with Hungary, and has geared to install barriers on the Italian border to the southwest.

The latest report by the UNHCR, the UN’s refugee agency, estimated the number of migrants and refugees having arrived in Italy by sea this year at almost 85,000, with over 2,000 others having died or gone missing.
 [rt.com]
4/7/17
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