A truck passes border plaques at the Czech-Slovak border in Stary Hrozenkov, where illegal migrant detection measures will be introduced from midnight, as part of security measures put in place after Poland introduced similar ones, Czech Republic, October 3, 2023. REUTERS/Radovan Stoklasa
WARSAW/PRAGUE (Reuters) - Poland and the Czech Republic have extended temporary controls on their borders with Slovakia until Dec. 3 and Jan. 3 respectively, in response to continuing efforts by migrants to enter from Slovak territory.
Slovakia is a transit country for migrants mostly from the Middle East and Afghanistan who are seeking to reach western Europe, especially Germany, after crossing into the European Union via Hungary from Serbia, which is not in the EU.
The number of illegal migrants arriving in Slovakia so far this year exceeded 46,000 as of Nov. 12, marking a more than six-fold increase from the same period last year.
"Border controls ... will be extended to the period from November 23, 2023 to December 3, 2023," a regulation issued by Poland's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration said.
Czech Interior Minister Vit Rakusan said the temporary controls were necessary due to a lack of common EU policies that would better guard the bloc's external border and jointly deal with migration.
"If neighbouring countries have an interest in keeping these controls, I cannot imagine that we would be the only country to cancel them," he told a news conference.
Poland, the Czech Republic and Austria all tightened their borders with Slovakia on Oct. 4. Warsaw cited "a serious threat of illegal immigration on the Polish-Slovak section of the state border". The measure was later extended several times.
Similarly, Slovakia on Monday approved an extension of its own temporary border controls with Hungary till Dec. 23.
In September, Germany introduced checks on its borders with its eastern neighbours in the face of increased illegal migration flows as the EU carves out a new migration pact that will overhaul rules for handling irregular arrivals.
Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria and Germany are all part of Europe's open-border Schengen zone.
Rakusan said he and the interior ministers of Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria and Germany would meet next Monday in Hungary to discuss the situation.
(Reporting by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk in Warsaw and Jan Lopatka in Prague; Editing by Gareth Jones)
