Poland and Czechia to introduce checks on borders with Slovakia

The tightened controls will begin on Wednesday and last for 10 days, with the possibility of an extension.

Dealing with illegal migration has been both a point of contention and unity for the central European neighbours, which together fought against the European Union imposing quotas for taking in migrants.

At the same time, with all the countries in the EU's Schengen visa-free zone, tougher border controls amid a rise in migrant flows have caused political and trade friction.

In elections in Slovakia last weekend and Poland later this month, illegal migration has been a key issue.

"This is a measure necessary for the effective fight against groups of smugglers and illegal migration," Czech Interior Minister Vit Rakusan said on social media platform X.

He said the checks would be random along the entire border, and would look to limit the impact on cross-border traffic.

Slovakia's government criticised the move and said it would react when it meets on Wednesday, with Slovak Prime Minister Ludovit Odor saying the issue needed a European fix.

Slovakia has faced a rising number of illegal migrants coming into the country as they head to Germany and western Europe. The migrants, predominantly young men from the Middle East and Afghanistan, have mostly come via the so-called Balkan route, entering Hungary from Serbia.

Slovakia's leftist former prime minister Robert Fico took a hard line on the issue before an election last weekend. His party won and is now seeking to form a government, and Fico has said guarding the border with Hungary will be a priority.

Odor's government, in a caretaker role, has said it is virtually impossible to seal the 655km border with Hungary, though it has ordered up to 500 soldiers to help police patrols.

Slovakia said last month the number of detained illegal migrants had soared ninefold, to more than 27,000 this year.

Odor said unilateral action by countries created a "cascade effect" that everyone paid for.

"In this case, the process was started by Poland, which is in the pre-election period, followed by the Czech Republic," he said.

Poland holds an election on Oct. 15 in which illegal migration has been a key campaign issue, and the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party has used ads showing the threat of it.

Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kamiński said on Tuesday that Poland is facing a jump in illegal migration and detentions.

"In recent weeks, we detected and detained 551 illegal migrants at the border with Slovakia. This situation causes us to take decisive action," Kamiński said.