“Criminal energy does not stop at the border”

As a hub of international traffic and transit routes, the A8 motorway is a particular focus of the Immigration and Border Police in Tumeltsham (Ried district). According to Asfinag, more than 28,000 vehicles pass the counting point at the German border near Suben every day. During a joint visit to the office in Tumeltsham yesterday, Chancellor Karl Nehammer and Governor Thomas Stelzer (both VP) emphasized the importance of cross-border controls and the search activities of the national security authorities. “Criminal energy does not stop at the border”, says Stelzer. The police take over their work “Responsibility for the security of the population, but also for the European project”.

“Border controls are necessary in the Schengen area”, said the Chancellor. The external border protection has the highest priority. But: “If this does not work, there is no security without controls within the EU borders.” The location in Tumeltsham is therefore an important location due to its cross-border police cooperation with the German authorities. There have already been 80 arrests this year.

Fight against smugglers

Austria is not “Quiet room for drug dealers, criminal clans and traffickers”, emphasized Stelzer. In particular, the smugglers are said to be fighting. “Smuggling is a dreadful nuisance that is associated with a great deal of human suffering. We need to show this type of crime that we are not a target country”said the governor.

In addition to the measures that are being taken in Austria, both Stelzer and Nehammer are calling for stronger protection of the EU’s external borders. “It cannot be in the spirit of the inventor that migrants are waved through to Austria and that we have to be the first country to take in asylum seekers”says Stelzer.