Authorities in Czechia and Slovakia are on high alert following a string of bomb threats targeting hundreds of schools across the two countries.
Classes were suspended on Tuesday morning across Slovakia to give police the time required to fully investigate the legitimacy of the threat, which is currently being treated as a potential terrorist attack.
The decision to shut the schools was made by the Department of Education shortly after 11 a.m. local time.
It is believed that up to 270 schools in Slovakia were targeted with threats in addition to other educational facilities in neighboring Czechia.
“In the morning, we received a threatening email from almost 270 schools. In the email, the sender talks about a bomb threat. The police have been on standby since the morning,” said Slovak Interior Minister Matúš Šutaj Eštok.
Each school must now be investigated individually to verify whether the threat of attack is real or not, with the government in constant communication with the authorities.
Vice President of the Police Force for Internal Order and Security Rastislav Polakovič warned that the perpetrator faces up to 25 years in prison for the threats.
“Children and their interest must be the priority, and they must enjoy the highest protection,” added Prosecutor General Maroš Žilinka, who insisted the authorities would not be rushed into a decision to reopen the schools.
In Czechia, the president of the country’s police force confirmed that his staff were investigating “a threatening e-mail that was addressed to hundreds of schools.
“We are communicating intensively with the representatives of the schools and have taken appropriate measures within which we want to interfere with the normal course as little as possible,” he added.
Anti-terror units are collaborating with the Czech police force on the case.
