Slovakia hasn’t reintroduced border checks; only 'monitoring'

Slovakia hasn't reintroduced border checks on its borders with Hungary and Austria - a move that it would have been obliged to report to Brussels - but instead has introduced a "compensatory measure" involving "monitoring activities", Police Corps President Tibor Gašpar said at a press conference on Monday. The measure, which has required the deployment of an extra 220 officers, will be in place until further notice, said Gašpar, adding that it's up to individual patrols to select vehicles and persons to check. "It mainly concerns the finding of human smugglers and illegal migrants", said Gašpar, adding that firefighters have been engaged in helping to patrol the Danube River, which forms part of the natural border with Hungary and Austria. The Police Corps president noted that Slovakia primarily protects the outer Schengen border, which in its case is the border with Ukraine. "We haven't seen any significant changes on this section when it comes to illegal migration. Nonetheless, we can't fail to react to what's happening southwards. We also have to supervise the Schengen area inside Slovakia's territory and adopt appropriate measures. The priority now is the Slovak-Hungarian border and the Slovak-Austrian border", said Gašpar.