Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Austria want to find solutions to illegal migration together, said Slovak Interior Minister Roman Mikulec after a meeting with his counterparts from the Czech Republic, Hungary and Austria in Bratislava on Monday. The four countries intend to take measures in a way that will maintain free movement within the Schengen area. They want to cooperate with the European Commission (EC), with which negotiations are due to be conducted, when targeting illegal migration and are calling for better protection of the Schengen external borders and more active involvement on the part of Frontex. Measures aimed at preventing smuggling should also be harmonised. "We agreed that the EC, in cooperation with our countries, will negotiate much more intensively with the countries of the Western Balkans in order to address illegal migration where it occurs," said Mikulec. In cooperation with the EC, the countries also want to call on Frontex to deploy its available forces, 1,500 people, to the external Schengen border. According to Mikulec, Slovakia also offered Hungary police officers to protect the Hungarian-Serbian border. Czech police have detained 1,142 illegal migrants at border crossings with Slovakia since border checks were reintroduced, the Czech Police posted on a social network on Monday. More than 92,000 people have been processed as part of checks on the border with Slovakia that were reintroduced as of September 29. Of them, 422 failed to meet conditions to enter the Czech Republic. The police also detained 33 human traffickers, while 371 people were returned to Slovakia under the readmission agreement.
Source: TASR
