Last Friday, the Austrian Interior Ministry announced that the measures, due to expire on 11 May, will now remain in place until 11 November 2025. According to the ministry, the controls are intended to combat illegal migration and cross-border crime.
Vienna is also maintaining controls at other borders. In mid-April, checks at the Czech and Slovak borders were extended until 15 October 2025.
“Our goal is clear: to reduce illegal migration to zero,” said Austria’s Interior Minister Gerhard Karner.
A mix of stationary and mobile checkpoints forms a flexible control network. Border police continue to be supported by soldiers from the Austrian Armed Forces on an assistance mission.
According to the ministry, the success of these measures is particularly evident in Burgenland. While around 3,600 people were apprehended there each week in autumn 2022, the figure dropped to just 19 in April 2025. Irregular migration at the Slovenian border is now also described as “close to zero.”
Austria part of wider EU trend
Karner also welcomed Germany’s decision to step up border controls, calling it a “clear sign of shared responsibility in protecting the EU’s external borders.”
Currently, ten EU and Schengen countries have temporary internal border controls in place: Austria, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Bulgaria and Slovenia.
