Migrants Not Welcome: Austria Deploys Border Police After Asylum Situation Goes "Critical"

Days after Austria threatened to reinstate border checks, Austrian forces conducted border-security exercises on Monday in the border town of Spielfeld in preparation for a wave of 80,000 migrants expected to travel through the new "Balkan route" from Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Croatia to Western and Central Europe.

"A state which can't protect its borders when needed loses its credibility," said Interior Minister Herbert Kickl, who was in charge of the exercise along with Defence Minister Mario Kunasek. Over 500 Austrian policemen and 220 soldiers, including those in the new "Puma" unit took part in the drills, which included a display of "Black Hawk" helicopters and simulated border unrest in which cadets played unruly migrants.

More