Caution: Hungarian commuters’ cars vandalised in Austrian car parks

There is a serious conflict emerging at the Austrian-Hungarian border crossing. The mayor of Somfalva (Schattendorf) has closed the road to the Hungarian border. He cited the risk of accidents by motorists as the main reason. Commuters do not want to drive extra kilometres, so they leave their cars in the car park at the border. However, more and more people are reporting damage to their cars.

Hungarian motorists have reported damage to cars left in car parks in Somfalva (Schattendorf). The cars are stripped of their branding, grilles or number plates, reports Index. Új Szó Nálunk wrote that a single incident would not imply intentionality. However, three people reported such damage to the newspaper alone.

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Conflict with the Austrian village

As we wrote, the mayor of Somfalva said in January that he would close the road to the Hungarian border. According to the mayor of the Austrian village, commuters from the Hungarian village of Ágfalva are causing a lot of accidents.

In recent years, the border crossing between the Hungarian Ágfalva and the Austrian Schattendorf has become an important commuter route. However, the increased traffic has also led to more accidents. Thus, the mayor of the Austrian municipality has introduced restrictions.

The mayor of Schattendorf had previously wanted to install a barrier at the Austro-Hungarian border. He also wanted a camera to read the number plates and the barrier to open only when an authorised vehicle arrived at the border.

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Cars parked in Schattendorf’s car parks

Currently, the road linking Schattendorf with Sopron and Ágfalva is closed during the commuting season. This means that crossing the border is prohibited between 5 AM and 8 AM on weekdays and between 4 PM and 7 PM in the afternoon. This rule applies only to motorists, so some people leave their cars on one side of the border, walk across, and then get into another car on the other side.

Right now, these cars parked in Schattendorf are a nuisance to many people.

Featured image: illustration