#Migrants: Negative reaction over Austria's decision to start stricter border controls with Italy

On 11 April Austria announced that they will start building a barrier at the Brennero pass and most likely will re-establish border controls with Italy. The announcement prompted the European Union to condemn the decision.

Hans Peter Doskozil, Austrian Ministry of Defence, said that Austria will start with stricter border control from 1 June. Austria is fearing that with the closure of the so-called 'Balkan route' many migrants will enter Austria through Italy, thence these preventive measure.

However, the decision sparkled controversy and condemn from the European Union and from Italy.

The Italian Under-Secretary for European Affairs, Sandro Gozi was very critical of Austrian intention, stating that the proposed barrier on the border would be "a bug mistake that breaks European laws".

Dimitris Avramopoulos, European Commissioner on Migration, said: "Building barriers among Schengen states, like this one between Austria and Italy, is not the right solution. I believe in building bridges not walls. We need a policy that won't lead us to close the common borders and jeopardize the Schengen area."

In a press release, the Commission stated its concern, adding however that so far there have only been press statements rather than action. The Commission added that Austrian plan will be discussed if goes through.

According to current rules, borders between Schengen countries can be closed only in case of extraordinary situations and at the moment this is not the case.

The Commission remarked that there is no evidence of a shift in the Balkan Route to Italy, although more people are arriving in Italy from Libya than last year.

Gianni Pittella strongly condemned Austria. The Vice-President of the European Parliament said: "We have reached a new level of absurdity in the refugee crisis with a country building a 'preventive' wall. The decision taken by the Austrian government to build a barrier at the Brennero Italian-Austrian border, to stop a possible new flow of migrants is completely unacceptable. Not only because it is clearly against the Schengen agreement on free movement of persons but also because it again demonstrates that national governments prefer to lock themselves in a national fortresses rather than look for a comprehensive and effective European solution. From Austria this is a useless and negative blow to Europe".

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