Slovenia's government has publicly rejected Austria's continuing border controls, branding the measures "make no sense" as Vienna prepares to decide whether to extend checks that have run almost without interruption since 2015.

The criticism lands nearly a decade after Austria first reintroduced checks along its border with Slovenia during Europe's migration crisis. Vienna has renewed the controls repeatedly since, citing persistent migration pressure and security concerns.

For travellers crossing between the two countries, the controls have become a long-running feature of cross-border movement. Both countries sit inside the Schengen Area, the 29-state European zone that abolished systematic passport checks at internal borders.

Austria's controls reintroduce identity verification at selected crossings, breaking the everyday reality of borderless travel that the agreement was built to deliver. The Slovenia-Austria border runs through Alpine terrain, with crossings that connect Slovenian and Austrian Carinthia, as well as Styria.

Local officials on both sides have complained that the controls slow daily life and cross-border trade. Long-distance freight and tourism also feel the friction. For regions along the frontier, the controls are particularly visible at peak travel times, when identity checks can add meaningful delays to journeys that would otherwise involve only a sign marking the national boundary.

Slovenia, which joined Schengen in December 2007, has long argued that the controls undermine the pact's core promise. Ljubljana has pointed out that migrants entering Austria via the Western Balkans route are usually registered and processed inside Slovenia before any onward journey, meaning the controls catch few people who have evaded detection.

The Schengen Borders Code, the EU regulation that governs the area's external and internal frontiers, allows member states to reintroduce internal controls as a last resort for up to 30 days. Extensions are possible for renewable six-month periods when threats persist, with each renewal requiring notification to the European Commission.

Austria has used that mechanism with Slovenia for nearly a decade. Several other Schengen members, including Germany and France, have also extended their own internal controls in recent years. The European Commission has pressed member states to justify extensions more rigorously and to shift to alternative measures, such as targeted police checks.

Slovenia's frustration has built over years. As the first former Yugoslav republic to join both the EU and Schengen, Ljubljana sees the Austrian controls as a public repudiation of the integration effort. Austrian officials have countered by stressing operational cooperation with Slovenian police at selected crossings, including joint deployments. The dispute has not derailed day-to-day law enforcement collaboration along the frontier.

The Commission issues an opinion on whether each extension is warranted, though its views are not legally binding. Austria has justified each renewal with reference to migration flows, and in recent years to broader security concerns related to the war in Ukraine and energy infrastructure.

What does this change for travellers?

For most, this dispute signals no immediate shift. Austria is widely expected to extend the controls again when its current authorisation expires. What it does signal is that the political cost of doing so is rising, with a key Schengen partner publicly calling the measures pointless.

Practical steps for Slovenia-Austria travellers:

• Carry a valid passport or national ID card
• Expect identity checks at major road and rail crossings
• Allow extra time during weekends and holiday periods
• Check current status via official channels before departure

The European Commission is expected to review the justification for Austria's continued controls. Slovenia's complaint adds diplomatic weight to a wider push, from Brussels and several capitals, to wind down internal border checks that have proliferated across Europe since 2015. Brussels has signalled it intends to use its opinion powers more actively. Continued public objections from Ljubljana raise the political cost of any further extension.