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Austria Plans to Construct Fence on Border With Italy Amid Migrant Crisis

© REUTERS / Leonhard FoegerProtesters hold up banners reading "No refugee home" during a demonstration by the Austrian Freedom Party (FPOe) in Vienna, Austria, March 14, 2016.
Protesters hold up banners reading No refugee home during a demonstration by the Austrian Freedom Party (FPOe) in Vienna, Austria, March 14, 2016. - Sputnik International
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Austria is planning to construct a 400-meter (some 1,312 feet) fence on its border with Italy as the country is seeking to prevent arrivals of migrants, Austrian media reported Wednesday, citing federal state police.

A migrant opens his arms as he waits to disembark from the German Navy ship Hessen at the Palermo harbor, Italy. - Sputnik International
Italian FM Slams Austria for Unilateral Steps to Curb Migrant Flow
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to the Tiroler Tageszeitung newspaper, Tyrol police chief Helmut Tomac said the construction of the fence in the Brenner Pass area which divides Austria and Italy depended on Rome's "willingness to cooperate."

A meeting of Austrian Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka with his Italian counterpart Angelino Alfano is expected to take place later this week, the media outlet reported.

In early April, Austrian Defense Minister Hans Peter Doskozil announced a plan to deploy troops to the Brenner Pass area amid concerns that migrants would search for alternative routes into the European Union, especially following the EU-Turkey deal on migration that put an end to the so-called Balkan route used by migrants to travel through Greece and Macedonia to wealthy EU states.

Earlier in April, the European Commission sent a letter to Vienna demanding an explanation for the construction of a new border-control post at the Brenner Pass. The Commission said it was "very concerned" about the move, as it could represent a violation of the Schengen Agreement.

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