Poland has confirmed that it will reintroduce checks on the border with Slovakia, with the number of migrants along the Balkans migration route continuing to surge.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced the new border control measure while visiting Kraśnik in the south of Poland. Earlier in the day, government spokesman Piotr Muller said that it was highly likely that some form of controls on that border would be introduced
The prime minister said that the lack of a border check between Poland and Slovakia meant that those who managed to get into Europe via the Balkans could move through Hungary and Slovakia and into Poland. This was why he was “instructing Minister of Interior Mariusz Kamiński to check on buses, coaches and cars” crossing that border when it is suspected there could be illegal migrants on board.”
According to the spokesperson of the Polish Border Guard, Anna Michalska, the authority has detected a marked increase in the flow of illegal migrants from Slovakia. She said that since there were no checkpoints on that border, the guards were limited to selective checks on vehicles and checking the legality of documentation entitling visitors to be in Polish territory.
Michalska revealed that border guards this year had detained 544 illegal migrants close to the Czech and Slovakian borders. At the same point last year, that number was 122. Most of those stopped had entered through Slovakia, totaling 450, whereas last year, that figure was just 60.
The government spokesman also confirmed that similar checks could begin on the border with Germany. He confirmed that consultations will be held with Germany before any such action is taken but added that Poland’s decision would be sovereign.
