Austria is continuing its strict border controls with Hungary and Slovenia to fight illegal migration and human smuggling, reported by Austrian News Agency APA.
The country’s Interior Minister, Gerhard Karner, said these checks are necessary to stop criminal smuggling networks and reduce illegal crossings to almost zero. He explained that the recent drop in arrests shows the measures are working.
For example, in one week in 2022, police caught 3,600 people trying to cross into Burgenland. In the same week of 2025, only 19 were caught.
These border controls have been in place since 2015, when the refugee crisis led many countries to increase security. Austrian soldiers and police work together at the Hungarian and Slovenian borders. Since 2023, there have also been controls at the borders with the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Austria is not just focusing on its own borders. Police officers are also working in Serbia and Hungary, as part of a mission called “Operation Fox,” to stop illegal crossings along smuggling routes in the Balkans.
Minister Karner welcomed Germany’s recent decision to increase its own border checks. He said it is important for countries like Austria and Germany to work together to protect the European Union’s outer borders.
Although the Schengen area was created to allow free travel without border checks, ten EU countries, including Austria, Germany, and France, now have controls in place. This shows that many nations are putting security first, even if it means changing how Schengen works.
