Local inspection: controls at the Czech border Image: VOLKER WEIHBOLD
Control is better
Anyone who asked around yesterday on the first day of controls in the border region got a clear picture of the mood: the majority of people were happy that police officers were at the state border again. That doesn’t mean these advocates are against free movement, it just means they’ve been following the news over the past few months. Dozens of smuggling vehicles were stopped by the police in Upper Austria because the smuggling mafia had relocated its routes to Upper Austria. Of course it would be nice to be able to continue driving to beautiful Krumlov without controls, but this would finally require effective protection of the EU’s external borders.
Devastating optics
On December 11, 1989, Governor Josef Ratzenböck and his South Bohemian counterpart Miroslav Senkyr cut the Iron Curtain in Wullowitz. On December 21, 2007, the Schengen expansion came into force and border controls with the Czech Republic became obsolete. Both dates are of great importance for the similar regions of Mühlviertel and Bohemia. After a long, often painful period in which the border had caused fear among residents on both sides, deep wounds began to heal.
Even if the motives for control are different today, the symbolism is still devastating. Hopefully all of this doesn’t just serve the political purpose of suggesting that something is being done against people smugglers – while the cause is being delayed.
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