Prague, Aug 31 (CTK) – The checks of international trains with migrants on the Austro-Hungarian border yesterday are normal activity in which Austria wants to see who is getting on its territory, Interior Minister Milan Chovanec (Social Democrats, CSSD) told CTK after a meeting with President Milos Zeman yesterday.
During their meeting of about one hour, Zeman and Chovanec discussed mainly migration.
Chovanec said their opinions on the engagement of the military in border checks differ. He said in his view they are not yet needed.
Turning to the train checks, in which the Austrians demanded that people without necessary documents get out of the train, Chovanec said every EU country has the right to introduce border checks for six months.
Chovanec said Zeman would be more radical about the miliary’s deployment in guarding the Czech border.
“We believe that the time is not yet ripe for this, but we do not rule out that we may ask the government to provide some soldiers in the future,” Chovanec said.
He said this could happen if 1000 migrants were detained in the country within a couple of days.
Chovanec said it is necessary that the Czech government should discuss the stance of the neighbouring Germany that wants to accept all refugees from Syria and not to return them.
“It is a question of whether trains should be dispatched from Hungary and cross the territory of individual EU member states going directly to Germany,” Chovanec sad.
At present, Syrian citizens constitute 40 percent of the refugees exposed in the Czech Republic.
Chovanec said he and Zeman agreed that the current migration wave will not subside. “On the contrary, it can happen that the number of migrants will be rising in the short term,” he said.
