More than 120 migrants and seven smugglers have been detained by Czech police at the border with Slovakia since Wednesday midnight, when they began carrying out temporary checks. Among the incoming migrants, the majority are Syrians who have been in Turkey for a long time and are now heading to Germany. In one case, a smuggler driving a van full of migrants was stopped only by gunshots, news server Novinky.cz reports. Criminal proceedings have been opened against the detained smugglers and they face up to five years in prison.
Prague police, whose unit operates at the Brumov-Bylnice border crossing in the Zlín region, reported that in the case of one of the smugglers, warning shots had to be fired in the early hours of the morning as he drove his van at high speed through a border checkpoint. After a short pursuit, police officers intercepted him in the woods where he attempted to escape.
Czech police began carrying out checks along the entire length of the state border with Slovakia from midnight on Wednesday to Thursday, at 27 former border crossing points as well as at the so-called green border. The move was made because of the increasing number of refugees crossing into Germany and Austria through the territory of Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The checks should be carried out for at least ten days, until 8 October, but the Czech government may decide to extend them. It intends to negotiate the whole matter with the Slovak side before that date.
Due to increased migration, Austria has also introduced temporary checks at its border with the Slovak Republic from midnight on Wednesday to Thursday. According to the Austrian public broadcaster ORF, the queues on the Austrian-Slovak border crossings were not too long on Thursday morning, despite the large number of commuters. There are currently 200 police officers in deployment in the states of Burgenland and Lower Austria, as well as on the Danube in Vienna. Checks are being carried out at 11 border crossings as well as at cyclist and pedestrian crossings.
According to Slovak Foreign Minister Rastislav Kacer, Slovakia is part of a greater problem of migration pressure that originates from the external Schengen border, with the measures taken by Austria and the Czech Republic not targeting Slovakia in particular. Kacer assured the public on Wednesday that he's in touch with the foreign ministers of neighbouring countries. "Everything that's happening is a coordinated and consulted affair," he emphasised. Prime Minister Eduard Heger and Defence Minister Roman Mikulec (both OLaNO) call for thorough protection of the external Schengen border by EU member states.
(TASR)
