Slovakia reintroduces checks on the border with Hungary and Austria

Slovakia has temporarily reintroduced checks at its borders with Hungary and Austria. The Interior Ministry thus reacted to the same step taken by Germany on Sunday evening, September 13. Following the extraordinary situation, Slovak police are adding support to the current patrols with 220 extra police officers. They were sent not only to border crossings but also to several parts of the so-called green border line. The situation is being constantly monitored in co-operation with the police corps in Austria, Hungary and the Czech Republic. The German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziére announced Sunday that Germany had introduced temporary checks on Austrian border to decrease the number of asylum seekers coming to the country. The Austrian Interior minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner insists Austria take similar measures. Following the German decision, the chief of the Hungarian police Károly Papp called an alert for officers of four counties close to the Serbian border and also for several organisations of the emergency unit.