Extension of border controls with Slovakia

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Austria’s Interior Minister Gerhard Karner announced an extension of border controls with Slovakia for another 20 days in a press conference on Thursday.

The department head referred to corresponding talks with his Czech Republic and Poland counterparts.

Border controls with Slovakia started in the previous week
The border controls began on October 4 and were limited to ten days. The argument was that smuggling routes should be prevented.

The step is being taken in close coordination with the Czech Republic, which, together with Poland, has extended border controls with Slovakia and in coordination with the Slovak security authorities. The measure against trafficking was initially scheduled to end on Saturday but will remain in place until November 2.

Police control border crossings in Slovakia
Thus, the police will continue to control the eleven official border crossings with the neighbouring country until the beginning of November. During this time, crossing the “green border” is not allowed. According to the Ministry of the Interior, the border cross controls are targeted against criminal smugglers and are intended to minimize disruption to commuter traffic. At the same time, the border area is also being monitored more closely. “The police must be faster than the criminal smugglers, who immediately change their routes if their business is disturbed. To ensure that there are no evasive movements via Austria, we are maintaining border point controls. The fact that the police are consistently combating trafficking in human beings is shown by the more than 500 arrests this year alone,” said Interior Minister Karner.

In the fight against immigrant smuggling, Poland and the Czech Republic are extending their temporary border controls with Slovakia until early November, according to the DPA. In Prague, the liberal-conservative cabinet approved a corresponding regulation on Wednesday evening. According to what was said in Prague, one follows the decisions made in neighboring states. Cross-border traffic should be hindered as little as possible, it said. “There are good results and clear effects. There will be no illegal migration routes through Poland,” Poland’s Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski said Thursday, explaining his decision. Slovakia continues random checks at its border with Hungary. All four states are part of the Schengen area, where there are supposed to be no more border controls.

Czech police checked over 40,000 people.
According to their statistics, the Czech police have checked 43,749 people since the start of tighter controls with Slovakia on October 4. In the process, 283 migrants entering the country illegally were apprehended, and twelve smugglers were arrested. According to Poland’s Interior Minister Kaminski, around 550 irregular migrants have been detained at the Polish-Slovak border since the controls began.