Fences can't solve Europe's migrant crisis, says Germany as Austria announces fence plans

Europe's migrant crisis cannot be solved with the construction of fences or walls at borders, Germany has said after Austria announced plans to erect fences on its border with Slovenia to slow the influx. 

"We do not believe that the current migrant crisis that Europe is facing can be resolved with the building of fences or walls," government spokesman Steffen Seibert said on Oct. 28. "We can only solve it if we as Europe take the same line, if we act together... if we see this task as a common one."

Earlier in the day, speaking in Vienna, Austrian Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner said the fence along her country's border with Slovenia was "about ensuring an orderly, controlled entry into our country, not about shutting down the border."

Both Austria and Slovenia are part of the passport-free Schengen zone and have been key transit countries for tens of thousands of refugees and migrants desperately seeking to reach northern Europe via the Balkans.

"This is about ensuring an orderly, controlled entry into our country, not about shutting down the border," she told public broadcaster Oe1.

The politician of the conservative Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) party added that the situation risked escalating as people were forced to wait in freezing temperatures for hours before being allowed to cross from one nation into another.

"We know that in recent days and weeks individual groups of migrants have become more impatient, aggressive and emotional. If groups of people push from behind, with children and women stuck in-between, you need stable, massive measures," Mikl-Leitner said.

On Oct. 27, the minister had already hinted at the fence during a visit to the Spielfeld border crossing, saying she was...