Partial success for Grenzort mayor: First relief for departure to Tyrol

The mayors of the border towns of Mittenwald, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Füssen and Pfronten have sent a letter to Munich and Berlin together with the President of the Tyrolean state parliament.

Your request: You want to avoid further hard border closings in the future.

There are currently subtle easing - currently mainly in the direction of Tyrol.

But the entry rules remain.

County - Enrico Corongiu is currently a sought-after man.

The Mayor of Mittenwald recently did a bit of work on the plaster.

He gathered the mayors of Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Elisabeth Koch), Füssen (Maximilian Eichstetter) and Pfronten (Alfons Haf) around him, brought in Sonja Ledl-Rossmann, the President of the Tyrolean Parliament - in short: he made people mobile.

The border closings were a thorn in the side of this group.

They short-circuited in a video conference.

"A great exchange and an excellent connection to Tyrol", Corongiu sums up.

The four minds agreed: Something like closing the transitions for a period like the past six weeks, such a scenario must no longer exist.

"There are so many personal fates attached to it, that is no longer possible," says the SPD man.

Now the new Grenz quintet has celebrated its first success.

Last Friday there was movement in the matter.

The Robert Koch Institute downgraded Tyrol from a virus variant to a risk area.

This was linked to the announcement that border controls would be abolished (we reported).

It's not quite like this, because, for example, the crossings will continue to be monitored by the law enforcement officers of both nations, "but it is definitely an improvement," stresses Corongiu.

Especially for families who will find much easier transition options, especially in the direction of Tyrol (see box).

And yet: lifting the border restrictions is not that easy.

This is ensured solely by the fact that Tyrol recently counted as a virus variant area and thus fell into the highest category at the RKI.

"Of course it's about the ten-day rule, which is now crucial for Austrians," Corongiu clarifies.

The German regulations state that anyone who has been in such a mutation territory in the past ten days must accept the highest security precautions with regard to quarantine and mandatory testing.

That will still be the case until April 6th, when the ten-day period will expire.

Conversely, the situation is a little better, and family visits are now immediately feasible again.

A casual back and forth, however, still falls flat.

“Nobody should drive over for fun and frolic,” Corongiu explains.

“It's still about keeping contacts as low as possible.” But there are also urgent needs.

+

Enrico Corongiu, Mayor of Mittenwald, took the initiative.

© CF

The mayors were recently told a great many of them.

Corongiu knows of Scharnitzers who could no longer visit their family doctor in Mittenwald, of animal keepers who no longer came to their stored hay in Tyrol.

Elisabeth Koch tells the story of German grandparents who, after many weeks, were still not allowed to see their new-born grandchildren.

The Mayor of Mittenwald does not harbor a guilty conscience for demanding such openings.

“I really don't have to have that,” he confirms.

Because the numbers in the neighborhood are currently significantly lower than on the German side in the Upper Isar Valley.

Leutasch has three active cases, Scharnitz four, Seefeld five.

"They are in better shape than we are." Indeed, the health department currently reports 18 infected people for Mittenwald, 15 for Krün and 9 for Wallgau. not a single one in Biberwier.

Only ten are affected in the much larger Reutte.

It is important to the community leaders from the border towns that big politicians are made aware of their concerns.

"This situation is and was a huge burden for our border region", they write in their letter to Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer and Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder (both CSU).

They demand "urgently" to "absolutely do without" for the continuation of the pandemic and in the future on strict border measures between Tyrol and Bavaria.

Corongiu reveals one more thing.

In the event that Tyrol had not been downgraded, “we would have sent another letter”.

It is now ready in his PC.

And who knows if he'll still get it out.

Talks are already underway nationwide about a hard lockdown.