Just before his announced visit to Romania on illegal migration versus Schengen enlargement topic, Austria's interior minister Gerhard Karner unveiled a report showing that "it's easier now than ever to smuggle migrants to Europe," Profit.ro reported.

Austria is the only Schengen member that rejects border-free area expansion (with the exception of Croatia) until the illegal migrants' issue is settled by building barbed-wire fences. After a negative vote on this topic last December, the rhetoric of Austria's government doesn't suggest an imminent change in its position.

The number of such illegal migrants spotted by Austria last year was 100,000 (no annual comparison provided), out of which 75% were not registered by the first EU country along their route.

Speaking of routes, Karner hasn't detailed this delicate topic that shows Romania as a non-essential source of migrants. However, 7% of those smuggling migrants to Austria in 2022 (712 such persons were caught, 61% up y/y) were Romanians – the Austrian minister of interior stressed. This doesn't say a lot about the route of migrants, though.

The distribution of migrant smugglers captured by the Austrian police, a topic favoured by the Austrian interior minister, shows that 4.8% of them were Austrians.

iulian@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Hyotographics/Dreamstime.com)