"The Situation Is Critical": Austria Conducts Border Defense Drills For Expected Wave Of 80,000 Migrants

Just a few weeks after the opening of a new "Balkan route" of travel through Albania, Montegegro, Bosnia and Croatia, Austrian forces will conduct border-security exercises on June 25 in the border town of Spielfeld in preparation for a wave of 80,000 migrantsexpected to travel through the route to Western and Central Europe, reports Kronen Zeitung, Austria's most widely-circulated newspaper.

Taking part in the exercise will be between 600 and 1,000 members of the riot police, "Puma" border squad and Federal Army will participate in the exercise.

"The situation is critical," says General Fritz Lang, director of Austria's Federal Criminal Police Office, who says that 30 illegal border crossings are attempted every day.

According to Lang, the migrants are primarily young male loners, "many of whom are considered "terrorist fighters," which require strong border protection.

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