Austria ready to 'close Brenner Pass'

(ANSA) - Bolzano, April 14 - Austrian Defence Minister Hans Peter Doskozil said Thursday that Vienna was ready to completely close the Brenner Pass connecting it to Italy to stop the flow of asylum seekers in an extreme-case scenario, the APA agency quoted him as telling a meeting of his SPHE party in Innsbruck. He also said Austria would ask Italy to be able to operate controls in its territory if asylum seekers keep arriving, according to APA. Austria has started reinforcing controls at its border with Italy at the Brenner Pass, including via the construction of a new barrier. This has caused friction both with Rome and Brussels. On Wednesday Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said Wednesday that Italy would not accept "unilateral" moves by Austria on the asylum-seeker crisis.