Crossings on the Austrian-Hungarian Border Must Resume, Says Foreign Minister

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said that the rapid crossing of the Austrian-Hungarian border, and the preservation of normal living conditions for local residents must be ensured by the conscious organization of traffic. Lately, there have been many problems at the border crossing because Austria unilaterally closed two of them, citing road works. Despite many attempts, local councils in Burgenland behind the decision have also failed to communicate with their Hungarian counterparts on the other side of the border.

In a post published on his Facebook page on Monday, Péter Szijjártó noted that in recent days, traffic on the Burgenland side of the Austrian-Hungarian border has been restricted at several crossings, and that he had a telephone conversation with Hans Peter Doskozil, the head of the Burgenland province, on Monday. He added that he had so far found the provincial governor to be a constructive and fair man and was not disappointed in this respect at Monday’s meeting.

“We agreed that the border crossing infrastructure should take into account two aspects at the same time, i.e. to ensure that the possibility of rapid crossing at as many points as possible is provided without dramatically worsening the living conditions of local communities,” he stated. The foreign minister also said that expert discussions on the matter would begin, and that at the end of the discussions a proposal would be made.

The mayor of Sopron, Ciprián Farkas (Fidesz-KDNP), announced last week on his Facebook page that he had written to Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó on the matter that

Austria wants to restrict traffic at the road crossing point between Ágfalva and Schattendorf, by carrying out road works on the road through the village from March 1, during which it will not be possible to cross the border.

Once the construction work is completed, the road will be used as a pedestrian area, with vehicles only allowed on it in exceptional circumstances. The mayor indicated that he had been informed that the Austrian side also intends to restrict traffic at the road crossing point between Sopronkőhida and Sankt Margarethen (Szentmargitbánya).

In his letter to Szijjártó, Farkas stressed that these two crossing points, alongside the Sopron-Klingenbach crossing, would ensure that Hungarians working in Austria could reach their workplaces. He said he was convinced that the measures violated the fundamental freedom of movement and freedom to work, a fundamental freedom of the European Union.

Featured photo via Facebook/Ciprián Farkas