Slovakia to Dispatch 50 Police Officers to Hungarian-Serbian Border

Slovakia will send 50 police officers to Hungary to monitor activities on the Hungarian-Serbian border as of next week for a provisional period of one month. This is Slovakia's response to Hungarian Interior Minister Sándor Pinter's official call for help with patrolling Hungary's borders. "It's a confirmation of solidarity within the Visegrad Four [Slovakia, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland]. It's obvious that the Hungarian-Serbian border is currently one of the most exposed EU external borders," reads the document, which was presented to the Slovak Government at its session on Wednesday. The Slovak police officers will be fully equipped, including hand guns, handcuffs, batons, pepper spray, night vision devices and vehicles. The Hungarians will provide accommodation, food and fuel. After the Government session, Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák added that along with 50 police officers, 17 light off-road vehicles and two transport vehicles will be dispatched as well. Officers chosen for this mission come from the Border and Foreign Police Directorate in the Prešov region and from the regional directorates in Kosice, Banská Bystrica and Nitra. They are fluent in the Hungarian language, being therefore able to help interpret for their colleagues from the Czech Republic and perhaps even from Poland. The Czech Republic has already begun helping Hungary to deal with the influx of refugees. The Czech Government has promised to send 50 police officers and 100 soldiers to monitor the external border of the EU. According to Prime Minister Robert Fico, if Poland joins the initiative as well, this will be an extraordinary initiative for the V4 group. "Such cooperation is rare in this kind of sensitive area," said Fico. Fico also declared the readiness of the Slovak Government to help other states on a bilateral basis. For instance, it could help Greece with building hot spots.