Austrian Troops to Stop Migrants Crossing Border with Italy

Austria has announced it is ready to use soldiers and tanks to stop migrants crossing its border with Italy, as Brussels urged Europe to help Italian authorities manage an “unprecedented” arrival of people from north Africa.

Austrian defense minister Hans Peter Doskozil announced that four Pandur armored personnel carriers had been sent to the Tyrol region and 750 troops were on standby.

Speaking to the Kronen Zeitung, Doskozil said troops on the Brenner pass would be “indispensable” if large numbers of people continued to arrive in Italy from the central Mediterranean. He told the popular daily newspaper that border controls on the busy Alpine pass would be reintroduced very soon, although his office said no timetable for the measures was fixed. Reports TheGuardian

Migration is one of the most divisive issues for the EU, with countries deadlocked over how to reform the bloc’s asylum rules. Meanwhile member states along the EU’s Mediterranean border have accused some northern neighbors of not doing enough to help in the immediate crisis. Some EU officials counter that Italy and Greece have not done enough themselves in the past, pointing to slow procedures to deal with refugees and migrants. Reported by Guardian.

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