BREAKING: Austria shuts down 21 border crossings with Hungary on Saturday! – UPDATED

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.

Tisza Party wants stricter measures in Hungary

The opposition Tisza Party has called on the agriculture minister to take steps to tackle foot-and-mouth disease, saying “Facebook videos and propaganda announcements are ineffective” against the outbreak. In a statement on Friday, the party urged the government to set up disinfection points along the M1 motorway in the direction of the border with Austria, deploy police officers to checkpoints and impose traffic restrictions in high-risk zones.

These measures, they noted, had already been proposed by farmers after an outbreak in the village of Levél, in north-eastern Hungary. Tisza called on the government to accept and implement its recommendations, warning that the disease was a threat to “the entire Hungarian agriculture sector and the countryside”.

The party said the government also bore responsibility for ethnic Hungarian farmers, noting that the Hungarian minority in Slovakia had been hit hard by the disease. They said making laboratory capacities available to ethnic Hungarian farmers would help them monitor the spread of the disease.

They called on the government to provide non-refundable grants to farmers impacted by the outbreak and to implement the recommendations of professional organisations concerning the sale of livestock and animal products.

UPDATE: Hungary steps up efforts to contain foot-and-mouth outbreak

Hungary is introducing new restrictions and measures to contain the spread of foot-and-mouth disease, Agriculture Minister István Nagy said in a video message posted on social media on Thursday. Nagy announced a ban on transport of even-toed ungulates from abroad through Gyor-Moson-Sopron County, in the west of the country. Disinfection stations are being reinforced and disinfectant provided to small operations free of charge, he added.

He said all livestock and animal shows in the region would be cancelled, including an international dog show in Komárom. Nagy said the disease had been detected at four farms which had been sealed off. Livestock there are being destroyed, he added.

Read also:

• Foot-and-mouth disease spreads in Hungary: Livestock and wildlife at risk, potential food price rises – read more HERE
• Foot-and-mouth disease spreads to more farms in Hungary, disinfection points at borders and on motorways