Poland introduces controls on border with Slovakia

Poland has decided to introduce temporary controls on its border with Slovakia, the interior minister has said.

"The government has decided to resume temporary border controls on the border with Slovakia. The control will be introduced at midnight," Mariusz Kaminski said at a press conference on Tuesday.

He added that in accordance with the procedure, it will be introduced for 10 days initially, but it is highly probable that it will be extended.

Kaminski said that compared to last year, illegal migration and the number of detected migrants in Slovakia increased by almost 1,000 percent.

The increased migrant inflow, including through Slovakia and Poland, has spurred Germany to increase checks at its border with Poland.

The minister added that a number of foreigners go through Poland to Germany and other European Union countries. "In just two weeks, we detected and detained 551 illegal migrants," he said.

He also announced that the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Slovakia, Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic, as well as the European Commission, had been informed about this in accordance with the Schengen Borders Code.

The Chief Commander of the Border Guard, Tomasz Praga said: "Border controls will be restored on the basis of Article 28(1) of the Schengen Borders Code, which states that this control can be introduced urgently. The controls will be reinstated for 10 days in the first instance. It can be renewed for subsequent periods, for up to 20 days. However, the total period, in accordance with this article, of restoring border controls will be for a maximum of 2 months."

Praga added that "according to the assumptions, a total of 11 crossings will be opened on the border with Slovakia, of which 8 will be road crossings and 3 will be railway crossings."