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In it, they asked for practicable Corona solutions and affirmed that there should be no more border closures at the Posada and that at least “little border traffic” should be allowed, since neither life nor the virus would stop in the middle of the water.
As reported, a regional blockade has been in effect since Tuesday in the Bavarian district of Rottal-Inn on the border with Innviertel. Mayors of Braunau, Simbach, Obernberg, Bad Füssing, Suben, Schärding, Neuhaus, Wernstein and Neuburg They all run a community with a connecting bridge over the inn. As before, everything must be done “to limit the spread of the virus and thus protect the population,” they sent in advance in the letter to Söder. “The current regulations represent a strong disadvantage for Bavarian companies and, therefore, large losses in sales,” they explained the situation. In principle, the communities are economically dependent on each other and “this is also part of our European understanding that there are no border restrictions between Innviertel and Bavaria.”
In the Bavarian district of Rottal-Inn, strict exit restrictions have been in place since Tuesday.
Image: CHRISTOF STACHE (AFP)
42,000 people from Innviertel travel to Bavaria daily
The large number of cross-border travelers (around 42,000 travelers from Innviertel regularly go to work in Bavaria, thousands in the Braunau district alone) face considerable additional work, as it is often not possible to carry out tests in the immediate vicinity of the border. “But there have also been restrictions in the important areas of education and health due to the regulations that have been made, which endanger the usual good care for the population,” he continues. Not only professional but also human ties “have shaped us – despite the national border – and our region together.”
In particular, the closure of the largest border crossings at Braunau / Simbach, Obernberg / Bad Füssing, Schärding / Neuhaus and Passauer Winkel (Mariahilf and Achleiten) “would be a real catastrophe, especially for travelers”. In the spring it became clear that “the number of cases on both sides has evened out, even though the borders were closed,” community leaders said.
The bridge separates Braunau and Simbach. Strict exit restrictions have been in place in the Bavarian city since Tuesday.
Image: Daniel Scharinger (Daniel Scharinger)
“The virus knows no borders”
“The virus knows no borders; that’s why we don’t need a hidden border closure,” he said. The Mayor of Schärdings, Franz Angerer (ÖVP) clearly, that he missed “a certain sensitivity and common sense” with the regulations. Schärding and Neuhaus are connected by two bridges. Concerned citizens approached him every day as an Austro-German family residing in both countries or as a single parent who would now have to spend his day off for the weekly Covid-19 test. “We need practical solutions that allow ‘drent and herent’ to continue living together,” he demanded.
Braunau in Upper Austria and Simbach in Bavaria, which are connected by a bridge, are particularly intertwined. “Ultimately, it is a city,” he describes Mayor of Braunau, Johannes Waidbacher (ÖVP) the spatial location. There are children and young people going to school on the other side of the border, the Braunauers store in Simbach, the Simbachers in Braunau. As of Tuesday, the neighboring Bavarian district of Rottal-Inn, to which Simbach also belongs, is closed and everything is different.
The Mayor of Braunau, Johannes Waidbacher (ÖVP)
Image: Daniel Scharinger (Daniel Scharinger)
Waidbacher: “We miss half the city”
Travelers can only cross the border with a negative corona test, the schools on the Bavarian side, which, unlike those in Upper Austria, currently do not have autumn holidays, are closed. Shopping traffic no longer occurs. “We miss half the city. And conversely, Simbach also misses half the city,” says Waidbacher. Whether this will balance out in retail is difficult to say, because Braunau residents now only buy “on their” side, while Simbach customers are no longer available.
Waidbacher and the first Mayor of Simbach, Klaus Schmid, had already appealed in a letter to Bavarian Prime Minister Söder at the weekend to reconsider the unilateral closure of the border. They pointed out that Simbach and Braunau are closely intertwined economically, socially, and politically.
Traveler chaos: Stelzer wants a quick fix
too August Wöginger, club president and district party president as well as members of the state parliament Mayor Johann Hingsamer and Barbara Tausch (the entire ÖVP) appealed to the Bavarian government in a press release: “Borders must be freely passable.”
Governor Thomas Stelzer (ÖVP) advocated for a quick fix, especially for travelers in Innviertel, at all political levels within the framework of strict entry regulations to Bavaria. “We have a common goal of protecting health. However, common sense practical solutions are also required to achieve this goal and secure jobs. Travelers in particular need a quick perspective,” he warned.
“Nobody understands that borders are drawn here”
Wöginger hoped that the Minister for Europe Karoline Edtstadler (ÖVP) bring relief to the population with Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder. “The inhabitants of the border region live a common Europe. Families, work and leisure activities unite the inhabitants of the border region of Upper Austria with those of Bavaria,” continued the Upper Austrian politician. You have to create clarity for people. For families, who often live on both sides of the border, it is as important as for the economy that one can travel unhindered from Austria to Bavaria. “Nobody understands that limits are being drawn here. One thing is clear: we have to comply with hygiene regulations. We have to keep our distance, but we also have to stick together,” Wöginger concluded.
There are also cross-border agreements with hospitals and schools. LHStv. Christine Haberlander (ÖVP) stressed on Tuesday that patients from Upper Austria could also be well cared for in Upper Austria. It is “all in the flow of conversations”. Existing solutions, such as the treatment of children in the Passau children’s clinic, as the Schärding hospital children’s ward was closed due to the II hospital reform, were maintained, but alternatives are also possible.
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