Vienna, 18 November 2022 (dpa/MIA) - The Austrian Interior Ministry announced the country's opposition to the lifting of checks at the borders of EU member states Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania, the daily newspaper Kurier reported on Friday. EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson had proposed this week that the three countries should be included in the European visa-free Schengen area, which has no border checks. "It is an inopportune time to vote on enlargement now when the external border system does not work," Austria's conservative Interior Minister Gerhard Karner told Kurier. Austria is currently facing increased arrivals of refugees who have passed through other EU states along the so-called Balkan route to enter the country. According to the Interior Ministry, more than 90,000 have reached the Austrian border since the beginning of the year. Of these, 75,000 had not previously been registered in any other EU country. A vote on the Schengen accession of the three countries is scheduled to take place on December 8. The decision requires unanimity. The 26-member Schengen area largely suspends border checks between its members and allows people to travel, work and live in another country without visas or permits. Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, the Republic of Ireland and Cyprus are the only EU countries that are not part of the Schengen area, while non-EU states Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein are members.