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There are more than 50 border crossings between Germany and Austria, the border itself is more than 800 kilometers long. Starting Saturday, it will be easier to pass again after strict border controls to contain the crown virus: controls should be relaxed, Germany’s Interior Minister Horst Seehofer announced on Wednesday: “When the situation has improved , you can give up some things. “
So it is only checked randomly and is no longer systematically. Starting June 15, this should also stop, as long as the infection process allows it. “It is still our top priority to break the chain of infection,” said the minister. Seehofer wants to use the guide of a maximum of 50 new corona infections per 100,000 inhabitants within seven days in the municipal associations of the districts and independent cities.
Chancellor Sebastian Kurz confirmed the change to random checks. What this might look like in concrete terms is still not fully understood. According to the “Wiener Zeitung”, the Interior Ministry said that the health authorities will receive support with controls according to their needs.
13 to 58 percent
all overnight stays
Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann spoke of “great relief” for the people and the economy in the Free State and in Austria. Hundreds of thousands of Germans and Austrians live in the other country, economic integration is very close. Therefore, opening on both sides of the border was eagerly awaited.
One group that was severely affected by travel restrictions in recent weeks was that of German students, who traditionally live in large numbers in Austria due to German university restrictions. Until now, they have been able to enter Germany, for example, to visit relatives. Due to impending quarantine measures, this option was not widely used, according to the German embassy in Vienna.
The tourism industry also breathes a sigh of relief. The relaxation took place in time for the start of the main holiday season from June to August, said Petra Nocker-Schwarzenbacher, president of the federal tourism and leisure sector at the Chamber of Commerce. German tourists accounted for 37.1 million of the total of about 152 million overnight stays in Austria each year, tourism expert Oliver Fritz of the Institute for Economic Research (Wifo) says to the “Wiener Zeitung”, although, of course, there are differences regional.
In Burgenland, for example, there are only 13, in Vorarlberg 58 percent of all overnight stays. If you only consider overnight stays by foreign guests, according to Fritz, 50 percent are German vacationers. The tourism industry is feeling the crisis immensely: it has lost almost three months this year. “He can’t make it up anymore, he forgets the year,” says Fritz.
Because even after the border has been opened, guests are unlikely to come to the country as much as they did before the crisis. Not only that some of them are no longer on vacation due to the economic measures of the companies. “Many may fear being infected or are not sure what will happen if there is an infection in the hotel,” says Fritz. The uncertainty is very great.
Therefore, urban tourism would benefit less from the opening of the border. In addition, events such as concerts and theatrical performances, which are the engine of trips to the city, are eliminated. The tourism of the congress represents more than ten percent of the overnight stays in Vienna. Organizing previously canceled conventions in a short time is difficult, according to Fritz. On the contrary, it is based on a change in urban tourism per day, including in Vorarlberg, Tirol, Salzburg and Upper Austria.
Unlike tourist travel, travelers have been able to cross the border without major restrictions in recent weeks. The pronounced federalism in Germany gives federal states a wide margin for regulation. However, a model decree from the German Interior Ministry fundamentally excluded travelers from travel restrictions. Who lives in Austria but works in Germany has so far been able to cross the border.
Regulations with Switzerland
and Liechtenstein
Kurz explained that an agreement similar to that of Germany with Switzerland and Liechtenstein would also be reached. “Whenever possible, we want border traffic to be as free as possible,” said the chancellor. Kurz was optimistic about a swift agreement to open borders in neighboring Eastern European countries. With these, one wants to find a “coordinated” solution in the next few days, at the latest next week, he said.
The current relaxation in Germany applies not only to the border with Austria, but also to crossings to Switzerland and France. The Berlin government met with Luxembourg with special regulation: there, border controls will be completely removed from Saturday. A similar solution is currently being negotiated with Denmark. There have been no border controls at the borders with Belgium and the Netherlands.
Germany, on the other hand, is not trying to relax people from Italy and Spain. Seehofer emphasized that Germany would agree with the neighbors of Italy, Austria, France and Switzerland, in the extension of the existing regulation. All entries from Italy and Spain must go into 14-day domestic quarantine.
Germany will continue to maintain self-isolation, at least until mid-June, for people entering from countries outside the EU, such as the USA. USA And Russia, those countries with the most people who tested positive for Sars-CoV-2. “With the best of intentions, I cannot tell you how far Russia will be in June,” Seehofer said. The political career in sight continues despite relaxation in some areas.
