Italy and Austria seek to calm tensions over migrant controls

Italy and Austria on Thursday played down tensions that flared after Austria said it might reintroduce border controls at the Alpine Brenner Pass to keep migrants from coming from Italy.

A day after Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi said Austria’s announced plans to build a fence at the pass was “shamelessly against European rules”, Austria’s new interior minister Wolfgang Sobotka said he had come to Italy “to calm tempers”.

Both Italy and Austria are members of the EU’s Schengen open-border zone, but free movement has been jeopardised by controls at some key crossings by countries affected by the migrant influx.

“There will be no wall,” Mr Sobotka told reporters after meeting his counterpart Angelino Alfano.

“If and only if it is necessary will we introduce more controls [at the Brenner Pass] by slowing traffic and trains . . . but circulation will be guaranteed.”

Any toughening of border controls at the Brenner Pass would slow traffic on an important route from Italy to Germany, Italy’s top trading partner.

Mr Sobotka said as many as a million migrants in Libya were poised to cross the sea to Europe this year. Italy says the true figure is much lower.

– (Reuters)