The decision

Due to the increase in irregular immigration, the Czech Republic has resumed border controls at its border with Slovakia. Currently, three countries have initiated tight border controls to contain the flow of migrants, most from the Middle East and Afghanistan. In fact, the Czech Republic is responding to the increase in irregular border crossings of south-eastern European countries with the same plan as Poland and Austria.

The Polish Interior Minister, Mariusz Kaminski, reported that compared to last year, illegal immigration and the number of migrants detected in Slovakia had increased by almost one thousand percent. “In just two weeks we have detected and arrested 551 illegal migrants,” Kaminski said, pointing out that most of them were headed to Germany and other EU countries.

“From midnight we will introduce random checks at the border with Slovakia. We are coordinating with Poland, which is introducing similar controls, with Slovakia and with other neighboring countries,’ Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala wrote on X (formerly Twitter). A year ago, in September, due to the influx of migrants, the Czech Republic had already instituted permanent controls at the Slovak border, which were later lifted in early February. “The number of illegal migrants entering the EU is increasing again. We do not take this lightly and are reacting quickly to the situation. Thanks to the controls, we will be able to better guarantee the security of our citizens,’ explained Fiala. ‘We are actively and primarily fighting against the traffickers who prey on human misery,’ the premier wrote on X again.

Controls

The ministry asked Czech citizens for understanding and willingness during any checks, which are random, but mainly focus on vehicles preselected according to their potential capacity to transport migrants illegally and on trains from Slovakia. The checks are carried out not only by police officers but also by specialists in the fight and identification of traffickers, who started stopping cars from the night between Tuesday and Wednesday and will continue at least until 13 October.

Shortly after the controls were introduced, Moravian-Silesian officers intercepted a van carrying migrants at the Šance border crossing near Jablunkov. In the cargo compartment, the police found two dozen people from Syria, including three children. The smuggler fled and is currently wanted.

Objective Germany

The influx of migrants to Slovakia, who often hope to reach Germany, will complicate discussions between EU governments on migration crisis management, discussions which will continue in the coming days at meetings of European leaders in Granada, Spain. In the meantime, the so-called Balkan route has undergone changes in recent weeks, and more and more migrants are crossing Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic to reach Germany via Poland. About 1800 people have already been detained at the Polish-Slovak and Polish-Czech borders, while almost 20,000 migrants have crossed the Hungarian-Slovak border in recent months.

Sources: https://europa.today.it/;  https://www.mvcr.cz/;  https://it.euronews.com/

Source of image: https://euractiv.it/

Graphic source: https://storyset.com/