BREAKING: Austria shuts down 21 border crossings with Hungary on Saturday! – UPDATED
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Although foot-and-mouth disease is not yet present in Austria, Vienna decided to close at least 21 Hungarian-Austrian border crossings to prevent the spread of the deadly virus. They will also shut down two Slovakian-Austrian border crossings.
Hungarian-Austrian border crossings will be closed to traffic
According to infostart.hu, the border crossings are among the smaller ones. Based on the media outlet, the relevant decree will be in effect until 20 May the earliest. You may check out the list below:
- Andau – Jánossomorja
- Andau – Kapuvár
- Baumgarten – Sopron
- Deutsch Jahrndorf – Rajka
- Deutschkreutz – Harka
- Deutschkreutz – Nagycenk
- Halbturn – Varbalog
- Halbturn – Varbalog (Albertkazmerpuszta)
- Klostermarienberg – Olmod
- Loipersbach – Ágfalva
- Lutzmannsburg – Zsira
- Lutzmannsburg (Rebberg) – Zsira
- Lutzmannsburg (Therme) – Zsira
- Neckenmarkt – Harka
- Nickelsdorf – Rajka
- Nikitsch – Sopronkövesd
- Nikitsch – Zsira
- Ritzing (Helenenschacht) – Sopron (Brennbergbánya)
- Schattendorf – Ágfalva
- Sieggraben (Herrentisch) – Sopron (Görbehalomtelep)
- Wallern – Kapuvár.
The two Austrian-Slovakian border crossings:
- AngernMarch – ZahorskaVes
- SchlossHof – Devinska Nova Ves
Slovakia closed small border crossings before
Infostart wrote that the authorities did not share details about the closures, but it seems that securing the borders will be the task of the local police and the state’s law enforcement units. By closing the border crossings, they will be able to redirect more police officers and border guards to the high-capacity border crossings.
Additionally, they announced the introduction of a stricter monitoring system concerning all 660 animal farms in the region. The new system will be maintained until at least 17 May.
Slovakia temporarily shut down small border crossings with Hungary following a new outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in Hungary in March. Only four major border crossings remain open—Rajka, Medve, Komárom, and Párkány—where disinfection gates or footbaths were installed to sanitise all vehicles crossing the border.
Strict restrictions
Before, Austrian authorities introduced restrictions concerning e.g. livestock, raw milk, fresh meat, fertiliser, and game meat import from Slovakia and Hungary and set up strict monitoring near the border. Meanwhile, they declared those areas security zones and carried out inspections.
The Austrian military helps police officers in inspections at the Hungarian and Slovakian borders. They ask for travel documents and sanitise the vehicles.
Serbia sets up sanitising points
According to Blikk, to avoid the emergence of the disease in Serbia, Belgrade set up sanitising points at the Röszke-Horgos border crossing for large vehicles and passenger cars. The agriculture ministry said the danger of bringing the disease to the country was high. Our Southern neighbour also introduced import bans on livestock and even food which contains products of animal origin.