Due to new corona requirements when entering Austria, there were traffic jams for hours on Sunday night at the Slovenian-Austrian border. Mega congestion formed on the border with Carinthia, the waiting time was up to 12 hours. Return travelers had to wait around the whole night in the Karawanken tunnel, completely unprepared. The hygienic conditions were catastrophic. The reason for this is a new corona regulation. In the morning hours, the Carinthian Governor Peter Kaiser (SPÖ) relaxed the controls. The situation has eased somewhat at the moment.
AUSTRIA. A new Corona ordinance regarding border controls when entering Austria has been in force since Saturday. That led to total chaos on the streets on Sunday night.
12 hours waiting time
According to reports, vacationers traveling home had to wait up to twelve hours for clearance at the Karawanken tunnel. At the Loibl tunnel, according to the police, it took at least seven hours during the night before those returning home could cross the border.
All night in the tunnel
The travelers also ran out of drinks, after all, nobody had expected to have to wait in front of the tunnel all night. The waiting people were of course not prepared for such a mega-traffic jam; fundamental problems arose, such as the question of where to go to the toilet.
It took 15 hours. 15 hours waiting in the car. At 5:58 we passed the border, we were simply waved through, no controls, no data recorded. So was it all pointless? https://t.co/fYeVjxiUT8
— Bernhard Neuhoff (@BernhardNeuhoff) August 23, 2020
New form creates chaos
“By stopping all people it came to the traffic jams,” said the spokesman. The reason for the mega-congestion is a new regulation of the federal government: The travelers had to fill out forms in which they confirm that they are only traveling through Austria. It took time for each individual to discuss the rules and fill out the forms.
People passing through must also register
The new regulation of the Austrian federal government stipulates that the authorities record the personal details of all travelers, even if they only cross Austria. The district authorities, who are responsible for the border crossings, initially carried out the controls on Saturday, according to the spokesman, as previously planned, reports the standard. The focus was on Austrians who came from Croatia. However, it was only on Saturday that it became clear that people passing through had to be checked.
Kaiser: “Ordinance was not agreed”
According to media reports, Carinthia’s governor Peter Kaiser (SPÖ) ordered, due to the risk of delay, that only random checks are carried out on transit travelers. “The focus is on human welfare,” says Kaiser. In a telephone conversation with the Ministry of Health, he pointed out that the implementation of this regulation would lead to unreasonable conditions. “The hygiene situation alone is intolerable,” said Kaiser. “This regulation was not agreed. Tomorrow we will discuss how we should proceed in the country’s coordination committee. “
Controls now relaxed
On Sunday morning, the extremely strict controls for people entering from Slovenia were relaxed, and the situation has currently eased: According to reports, the backlog in the Karawanken tunnel is still seven kilometers, the waiting time is around three hours. There were still four to five hours of waiting time for travelers at the Loiblpass.
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The situation at the Carinthian borders
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