But Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner insisted the barrier was “not about shutting down the border”.
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Germany, alongside its European partners, is facing one of its biggest challenges in decades, tackling a massive inflow of refugees – mainly from Middle Eastern countries, particularly Syria – after German Chancellor Angela Merkel last month opened the country’s doors to them.
Slovenia, the main entry point into Austria, also said it was ready to build a fence, while Hungary has been championing the success of its razor-wire border fences with Serbia and Croatia and plans another one with Romania.
Fischer said there is nothing set on the possibility of building a fence along parts of his country’s border.
More than 86,000 people have entered Slovenia since October. 16, after Hungary closed its border with Croatia, forcing refugees and migrants to seek an alternative route to countries such as Germany.
On Tuesday, 14,500 were still in Slovenia while the others have presumably moved on to Austria.
Further details on the measures – including how long the fence would be – were not immediately available. Germany’s government also appears to have been overwhelmed by the number of people arriving (the country expects to receive 800,000 people this year) and local authorities are under increasing pressure. Syrian citizens are mostly being accepted, but Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said numerous Afghans pouring into the country will likely be sent home.
Mikl-Leitner added that he fence would be “solid and stretch several kilometers left and right of the border crossing”.
Government officials are at pains to point out that Austria’s fence would be different from Hungary’s and would not go against the public good will toward refugees. Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar firmed up those plans Wednesday.
Today Austria outlined plans to build barriers including a fence at a busy border crossing to slow an influx of migrants.
Germany has accused Austria of sending people over their common border under the cover of darkness to escape detection.
Swedish authorities say 14 refugees are refusing to leave a bus in northern Sweden, protesting that they do not want to stay in chalets in a remote and cold part of Sweden.
“We observed that refugees, without warning and after dark, were being driven to the German border without any provisions or forethought”.
“It’s the Chancellor’s job to speak with Austria”, he told the Passauer Neue Presse. “The German police didn’t explain why, and now, my family is cut in two”, he said.
Austria has recently been struck by a huge influx of asylum seekers coming from Slovenia.
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The decision comes just days after Juncker and other European Union leaders at an emergency Balkans summit warned that “unilateral actions could trigger a chain reaction”.
