Report: Road controls in Austria cause traffic jam in Hungary
MTI / Csaba Krizsán
Thirty-kilometer-long traffic jams stretch along Hungary’s M1 highway leading to Austria as Austrian Police stop to investigate every car suspected of human trafficking, Hungarian online daily origo.hu reported today. The strict controls come in the wake of the tragic discovery on Austria’s A4 highway of the bodies of 71 refugees in a truck, which is thought to have originated in Hungary.
Vehicles line up in a traffic jam on Hungaryʼs M1 highway caused by stricter road control in Austria. (Photo: MTI/Csaba Krizsán)
Austriaʼs Minister of the Interior, Johanna Mikl-Leitner, reportedly said yesterday that Austria is strengthening road controls in order to fight human trafficking, origo.hu reported. Austrian daily Der Standard reported that the Austrian Police have already found ten refugees since controls were increased yesterday.
Although Austria could restore border control temporarily – as it did during the 2008 European Cup, Origo reported that Austria has not restored border control on the Hungarian-Austrian border, but controls are being enforced in Austria on the most-frequented transit roads.
Road controls will take place for an undetermined amount time, Hungarian news agency MTI reported, citing the interior ministerʼs interview with Austrian state owned ZDF television channel.
In response to a query on the effectiveness of the temporary wire fence being built on the Hungarian-Serbian border to slow the influx of immigrants arriving in and passing through Hungary, the interior minister said "it is an illusion to think that such measures stop refugees", adding that "refugees will find new ways to enter the European Union."
She urged the European Union to find a solution for the issue of refugees as soon as possible, supporting the idea of distributing refugees arriving to the EU through migrant quota systems, an idea widely discussed by the EU earlier, however, neglected due to many members, including Hungary, opposing the measure.
German politician Roger Lewentz told German paper Die Welt that "it is terribly difficult for me to accept that there are fences being erected in the middle of Europe", most probably referring to the Hungarian fence. The politician added that time will tell how such a measure will affect Germany, MTI reported.
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