- Title: 291 AT COVID-19 Kurz DE borders
- Date: 13th May 2020
- Description:Borders to Germany will be open for everybody in June Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has visited the Kleinwalsertal in Vorarlberg this evening. The Valley can only be reached by road through Germany and was cut off from the rest of Austria in the last weeks. Sebastian Kurz needed a special permission to transit Germany to visit the valley. The borders will open to everybody again in June, but on Friday first measures of easing will be introduced, all border crossings from Austria to Germany will be reopened on Friday, May 15th but you can only cross for some particular reasons, like to visit relatives or to work in the neighboring countries. The Kleinwalser valley is dependent on tourism and the region is hard hit by the corona measures. Kurz also pointed out that similar agreements to open the borders are negotiated with Austrians neighbors in the East, but as the infection rate in Italy is still high, there is at the moment no perspective to open the border to Italy. He also said that if a second wave of COVID should spread, there should be regional containment, and this should be done consequently to prevent a full shutdown. It has been the first visit of Chancellor Sebastian Kurz outside Vienna for 10 weeks. Shotlist - WS Kleinwalsertal - VS Kurz arriving - Pan shot Media representatives - Zoom in Kurz talking to governor of Vorarlberg and mayors of the Kleinwalser valley - Pan left Kurz walking - SOUNDBITE (GERMAN) Sebastian Kurz, Austrian Chancellor: "I am glad we could reach an agreement with the German Chancellor and I think the procedure is good, and responsible, but I also think it is important that we act, the infection rate in both countries are low, and therefore it is possible. A similar situation we have with Switzerland and Liechtenstein, we had good talks with governor as a direct neighbor, and our Interior minister and there we have the same agreement as with Germany.. We have a negotiation process with our Eastern Neighboring countries, and we hope to be able to reach an agreement in the next weeks. which will be quite similar to this one. And we have a challenge, this is Italy, the infection rate is still higher, and therefore at the moment we see no perspective. - SOUNDBITE (GERMAN) Sebastian Kurz, Austrian Chancellor: if a second wave would occur, and nobody can exclude that, we than it will be important from our point of view, to act regionally, and focused, and with the smallest possible economically impact. What I would like to say is, that if there are some infections the aim is to do a regional containment and to do everything regionally to prevent any wide spreading. And if this is successful, we are far away from the measures we had to take this time, as it is our top priority is to avoid a total shutdown. - VS Border controls to Germany
- Collection: ORF
- Genre:News
- Producer:ORF
- Transmission Date:13/05/2020
- Decade: 2020s