Austria has deployed 70 soldiers to its border with Italy to help police prevent illegal migrants from entering through the Brenner Pass as tensions rise over the numbers heading north.
Bulgaria said the EU should defend its borders by “force of arms” and announced it would send 600 soldiers to stop migrants crossing from Turkey.
Vienna has long threatened to bolster defences along its border with Italy, which was opened as an internal crossing within the passport-free Schengen area of mainland Europe. Austria, Denmark, Germany, Norway, and Sweden have permission from the European Commission to impose temporary border checks. Helmut Tomac, an Austrian police official, said the deployment was in response to migrants trying to get across the border underneath lorries.
Austrian border controls are