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Tight controls beyond the Tyrolean border
© WHAT (dpa)
Germany again lifts its strict entry restrictions into Tyrol on Sunday. As the German government announced on Friday, the Austrian state, as well as the Czech Republic and Slovakia, have been removed from the list of virus variants. This means that the basis of the factual entry ban that has been in effect since mid-February no longer applies. Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and Tyrolean Governor Günther Platter (both ÖVP) reacted with satisfaction.
Hence, from Germany’s point of view, the whole of Austria is again “just” a corona risk zone. On the other hand, Germany tightened the rules for its larger neighboring country, France. This also counts as a high incidence area as of Sunday, so a test is mandatory upon entry.
“After intense talks in recent days, we were finally able to convince Germany to end disproportionate border controls,” said Landeschef Platter. The situation at the borders has been “such an enormous and unacceptable burden to us” in recent weeks.
That is why they have “massively pressed for an end to the measures.” “This pressure at all levels has had an effect. Border controls will now be finished earlier than last time by Germany,” Platter said. Such “disproportionate interference” in the European free movement of people could and should not happen anymore, the governor emphasized.
Kurz saw the decision as a sign that the measures in Tirol against the South African mutation had gone into effect. In a statement sent to the APA, he thanked Platter and the president of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, for the “excellent cooperation in the fight against the pandemic”, for example in the vaccination of the Schwaz district.
“During last week’s talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel and in meetings with Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer and Health Minister Jens Spahn, it became clear that border controls are about to be lifted due to the better infection situation. I am pleased that the controls are now official, “wrote Kurz.
South Tyrol Governor Arno Kompatscher expressed the expectation that Austria will now also relax the regime on the Brenner border, which has tightened as a result of the German decision. “Governor Günther Platter has already assured me that the abolition of border controls on the border between Germany and Austria will also make those of the Brenner obsolete and therefore they will be phased out,” Kompatscher said Friday afternoon according to stol .Item. Kompatscher also spoke with Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio and Health Minister Roberto Speranza to have Italy treat Tyrol and Austria in the same way as other EU countries in the future.
Inpatient controls have been in place at the borders since February 14, after Germany declared Tyrol a variant area of the virus. Only Germans and foreigners were allowed to enter with a residence and residence permit in Germany. There were exceptions, for example, for truck drivers and cross-border travelers with systemically important professions. You had to submit a negative corona test that was no older than 48 hours.
German controls had caused massive political unrest in Tyrol. Over and over there was talk of harassment. More recently, the case of a heart patient caused a sensation that he was going to be treated in Füssen, Germany. But because a document was missing for the crossing, the ambulance was stopped and had to turn around first. At the heart clinic, he finally had to be operated on immediately. Platter was also banned in advance of a planned transit through the German corner due to a crown summit at the Federal Chancellery in Vienna.
The Czech government was satisfied with the German decision. According to the German press agency dpa, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tomas Petricek, especially welcomed the easing of cross-border freight traffic. There have been repeated protests against the German obligation to test truck drivers, the Social Democrat said, recalling truck jams at the border in mid and late February. Now expect a better traffic flow.
On the other hand, French Chancellor Jean-Yves Le Drian fears problems due to the new German regulations for his country, according to the dpa. But you want to try to harm them as little as possible. There were checkpoints at the French border last spring. This is one of the reasons why the environment in the border areas is tense. In France, the infection situation has recently worsened massively, the number of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants per week is currently more than 300.
The French border region of the Moselle was classified as a virus variant zone in early March. There is already a mandatory test when entering. In the future, too, it will only be randomly checked behind the border as part of the so-called veil chase. No stationary border controls are foreseen.
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