Czechia and Poland introduce controls along their borders with Slovakia

The governments of Poland and the Czech Republic are introducing temporary controls on their borders with Slovakia.

PAP and ČTK reported this.

In this way, the governments want to curb the flow of illegal migration and smuggling.

Recently, Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kamiński said that over the past year, illegal migration and the number of detected Slovak migrants increased by almost 1000%.

In the last two weeks alone, Poland has detected and detained 551 illegal migrants.

Some of the foreigners are travelling through Poland to Germany and other EU countries.

The commander of the Polish State Border Guard Service, Tomasz Praga, suggests that a total of 11 checkpoints will be opened on the border with Slovakia, including 8 road and 3 rail.

Poland has already notified the European Commission of its decision.

The Czech Republic also introduces controls on its border with Slovakia on October 4. The checks will be carried out randomly along the entire length of the border in such a way as to "restrict cross-border traffic as little as possible and not unnecessarily burden vehicles or passengers."

The government is in contact with Slovakia, Austria, and Germany on this issue.

Initially, the Czech Republic will deploy about 130 police officers.

Law enforcement officers will primarily focus on road and rail crossings, but checks may also target pedestrians or cyclists.

In response, Slovakia said that "migration needs a European solution, individual steps by states will have a cascading effect."