Roads in Austria closed as a result of increased cross-border commuters

Thousands of people commute every day from Hungary to their jobs in Austria, where they are paid double as much. More than 120,000 Hungarians work in the neighbouring country, mostly in the service and trade sectors.

In recent weeks, there has been an increase in traffic at the Hungarian-Austrian border crossing at Sopron, as several roads in Burgenland have been closed to reduce traffic, which the municipality said was done on the grounds of protecting the peace of its residents.

A local resident testified that roads became blocked early in the morning as a result of the increase in vehicles. “Lots of people end up taking a short cut through the village,” he added.

On the Austrian side, more and more municipalities are trying to prevent traffic from building up in their streets, such as by blocking popular border crossings to prevent cars from crossing.

In the border crossing between Ágfalva and Schattendorf, the municipality implemented the mandatory purchase of a 160 euro sticker that allows drivers to pass. However, due to on-going technical issues, those with a sticker haven’t been unable to do so regardless of it.

The lack of accessibility resulted in a build-up of parked cars near the border, with many people opting to go to work in Schattendorf on foot or by bicycle instead.

In response, an International law office launched a compensation lawsuit against the Schattendorf municipality, claiming that Hungarians who want to cross to the village have to walk more than 30 kilometres. The claim was dismissed at first instance by the Austrian provincial court.