On the train, on the road

Border control on the brink of collapse despite successes

Random checks are carried out at the borders and investigators search for smugglers and traffickers in rail traffic

(Bild: Peter C. Mayr)

An arrest every other day on trains to Bavaria and the Czech Republic, plus kilos of drugs in the luggage. The border controls in Upper Austria are having an effect and the investigators are having success. But now there is an end date for measures and a demand for continuation.

"Control, please come with me" - undercover Upper Austrian investigators travel on cross-border trains to Bavaria and the Czech Republic - and are successful. There were 163 arrests last year and 90 in the first half of 2024. Around six kilos of drugs were found last year - this year it's already 17 kilos. By June, 129 people wanted by the courts had also been located. And to top it all off: 5055 euros in organ mandates were also issued in the first six months of the year.

"Maintaining the current level"
But border controls are on the verge of being discontinued. "According to an EU paper, the authorizations for controls to the Czech Republic and Slovakia will expire on 15 October, the German controls at Austria's borders and our measures to Hungary and Slovenia on 11 November," warns August Wöginger (VP) and, together with OÖVP party manager Florian Hiegelsberger, advocates continuing the border controls "to Bavaria and the Czech Republic at least at the current level".

Resistance in Bavaria too
Resistance to the end of border controls is also forming in Bavaria. In the first half of 2024, 9736 illegal entries were detected in Bavaria - during the 43 days of the European Football Championship alone, 144 smugglers were caught in 510,670 identity checks, 390 arrest warrants were executed and 2158 illegal entries were prevented.

No borders, but not borderless
"The mixed search teams at Upper Austria's borders with Bavaria and the Czech Republic are a sign that border-free areas in the EU do not mean borderless freedom for criminals," said Hiegelsberger and Wöginger, advocating the extension of controls as long as the EU's external borders are not as secure as planned - the announced tripling of EU border guards to 30,000 people is still a dream of the future.