Austria’s interior minister has said his country will continue to conduct checks on the borders with neighboring Hungary and Slovenia. All three EU countries are members of the Schengen zone whose members don't have controls at their mutual borders. But six Schengen countries, including Austria, have reintroduced border checks for security reasons.
Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has announced plans to increase random searches at all German borders. The goal is to discourage migrants from moving between EU member states.
Germany has extended checks along its border with Austria by another six months. German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer had hinted at introducing an extension in recent weeks.
Slovenia and Austria are discussing a proposal by the government in Ljubljana to create a joint border patrol along the border the two countries share. Vienna is evaluating the possibility.
The issue of migrants was at the center of a meeting between the presidents of Croatia, Slovenia and Austria. Croatia said that it has been successfully protecting EU borders, but did not address reports of police abuse of migrants.
A project has been launched in some of the border areas between Italy and Austria to help refugees and asylum seekers find a job.
A year after it reached an agreement with Greece on returning migrants, Germany must take back a refugee who was stopped on the border and deported to Greece. A Munich court found that proper procedure under German law had not been followed. While it is allowed to send people back to other EU states, the procedure is complicated when a person is sent back directly from the border, as this case shows.
Four years ago, the bodies of 71 migrants were found inside an abandoned truck in Austria. The main suspects had already been sentenced, but now an appeals court in Hungary has delivered the final ruling on the case.
In Austria, asylum judges who mostly hear appeals from men are more lenient towards women appearing in court. A recent study has also found that female judges are more likely than male judges to grant asylum.
Austria has passed a law intended to ban Muslim girls from wearing a headscarf in primary schools. The Jewish yarmulke and Sikh patka are not included in the new measure.
Asylum seekers in Lower Austria are to be issued with "Ten Commandments of Immigration" by regional authorities. Included in the edicts is a requirement for migrants to show gratitude to Austria.
Austria’s far-right government has pegged social benefits to German language skills and family size. While the government defended the reform, the cuts were met with criticism by opposition parties and UNHCR.