Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner reiterated on Monday his scepticism about the enlargement of the Schengen Area.

“The border situation, which is unbearable for the local population, shows that Schengen generally does not work and that the enlargement of this area is pointless,” he said while on a visit to the Austrian-Hungarian border.

Karner said that this year Burgenland alone, a region bordering Hungary, registered 74,291 refugees who came from EU countries where, contrary to the Dublin principle, they had not been registered.

“Citizens rightfully wish for the returns to be done at the border. However, when applying for asylum, that’s legally impossible,” he added.

Karner said it should be possible to refuse entry already on the border to citizens unlikely to be granted political asylum, mentioning those from India, Tunisia, and Morocco. “This year alone, 11,400 Tunisians have applied for asylum in Austria.”

The Austrian Interior Ministry told the Croatian state news agency Hina on Saturday that Karner, in expressing his scepticism about Schengen’s enlargement, did not explicitly mention Croatia, which is expected to join Schengen on January 1.

It also said that with his statement in which he objected to Schengen’s enlargement, the minister wanted to warn about the difficult illegal migration situation Austria has been facing in recent months.

Late last week, Karner said that of the 100,000 illegal migrants registered in Austria this year, 75,000 had passed through an EU member state without being registered. That’s why he believes Schengen’s enlargement is pointless.

Croatian Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic said Austria continued to support Croatia’s Schengen accession.