The Czech border with Slovakia is scheduled to continue until at least November 2, media outlets reported on Thursday.
The Minister of the Interior, Vit Rakosan, announced late Wednesday that the government had decided to extend the period of border controls, which was initially extended by 10 days and was to end tomorrow, Friday.
The Czech Republic, Poland, and Austria introduced controls on their borders with Slovakia last Wednesday. With the aim of curbing the number of illegal immigrants trying to use their lands to reach further into the West
Poland announced that it plans to extend temporary controls on its border with Slovakia.
“Today we will announce that the temporary control will be extended until November 2…we will also inform the European Commission that we are entering the second stage and extending the temporary control,” Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski said.
Temporary controls on Poland’s border with Slovakia were first introduced on October 4.
“There are good results, there are clear effects. There will be no illegal migration routes through Poland,” Kaminski added.
The Bratislava government installed the border controls on Oct. 5, following Poland, the Czech Republic, and Austria, which had earlier tightened their own frontiers with Slovakia.
The number of migrants entering Slovakia, mostly from the Middle East and Afghanistan, has risen eleven-fold to nearly 40,000 this year, according to government data.
Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria, and Germany are part of the European Union’s Schengen open-border zone.
