'ProBorders': Austria stages border protection exercises

During the 2015 migration crisis, Austria took in more than 1 percent of its population in asylum seekers. Since then, a right-wing government has come to power, vowing to never allow a repeat of such irregular migration. Vienna's "ProBorders" military and police exercises at the border aimed to increase authorities' preparedness for a similar wave of migration.

For the exercises, Austrian authorities deployed armored vehicles and two Black Hawk combat helicopters, although the training did not include violence on the part of migrants or arrests. Despite the show of force at the Austrian-Slovenian border, Slovenia's prime minister said the exercises weren't needed, and even called them "a little provocative."

Hundreds of soldiers and police officers were involved in the exercises, including Austria's new elite border protection force called the "Puma" police unit. Police cadets played the part of the migrants attempting to cross the border. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said the Austrian government "will do everything necessary to protect our borders."

Austrian Interior Minister Herbert Kickl and Defense Minister Mario Kunasek, both of the far-right Freedom Party, attended the exercises. "A state that in the worst case cannot protect its borders loses its credibility," Kickl told reporters. "I am determined that events like those of 2015 must not occur again. And that is exactly the message we want to send from here."

The exercises came days after German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer threatened to take drastic measures if Chancellor Angela Merkel didn't find a EU-wide solution to irregular migration. Seehofer has proposed intercepting asylum seekers at the German border, a move that would likely prompt major restrictions on freedom of movement in the visa-free Schengen zone.