Status: 07/24/2021 2:59 p.m.
Due to the increasing number of refugees arriving, Austria is sending the armed forces to its borders. 400 additional soldiers are mainly to secure the border with Hungary. You want to control migration movements.
Austria is stepping up the surveillance of its borders. The reason is that more migrants are coming into the country again, said Interior Minister Karl Nehammer and Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner at a press conference.
Initially, around 400 additional soldiers are to be sent to the borders. “We are experiencing that the number of apprehensions on the Austrian border is increasing again,” said Nehammer. The border with Hungary is particularly affected. 200 people smugglers have already been arrested this year. “The aim is to control migration movements,” said Tanner.
Up to 2000 soldiers conceivable
The defense minister said that the forces at the border would be massively strengthened. The exact need for soldiers at the borders with Slovakia, Slovenia and, above all, Hungary would therefore be constantly reassessed. Up to 2000 soldiers would be conceivable for deployment at the border. The increase that has now been announced is already in progress.
The operation would be carried out by the armed forces without an expiration date, said Tanner. According to the Ministry of Defense, there are currently 1,000 soldiers deployed at the border by security police – 520 as part of the coronavirus pandemic, 134 currently in disaster relief in Germany. There are 850 Austrian soldiers abroad.