Vienna - One year after Austria's border controls with its eastern neighbours fell with the enlargement of the Schengen zone, Austrian fears of increased crime have been disproved, with the interior ministry saying Saturday crime rates had fallen in border areas.

This was due to better police cooperation with neighbouring countries, Interior Minister Maria Fekter said in a statement.

The number of crimes was lower this year in most districts bordering the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia, compared with 2007. In Austria's easternmost province of Burgenland, the rate fell by 9.7 per cent.

Some problems that Austrian security authorities used to deal with have now shifted to the East, Fekter told Austrian public radio Oe1.

"Our neighbouring countries now have the problems with illegal entries and arrests that we used to deal with," she said.

In December 2007, the four countries bordering Austria, as well as the Baltic states, Poland and Malta became part of the border-free Schengen region. Switzerland joined on December 12. (dpa)