Prague, June 27 (CTK) – The Czech Republic could deploy the military to protect its border in case of a mass influx of migrants, according to CTK’s information gained Saturday and the Interior Ministry said the government could also call up Prison Service or Customs Authority members to fulfill police tasks.
The ministry said the relevant plans have been prepared.
“The police have increased checks and measures in regions neighbouring Austria. But the police capacities have their limits. If the deployment were to last long or if there were masses of immigrants, it would be necessary to also engage other forces,” Petra Kucerova, spokeswoman for Interior Minister Milan Chovanec told CTK.
“We have specific plans ready, but details are not destined for publication. The government can also call up soldiers in active service and members of the Prison Service or the Customs Authority to fulfil the tasks of the police,” she said.
The National Security Council will meet on Sunday evening to discuss measures against illegal migration and the security situation in the country following the terrorist attacks in France and Tunisia on Friday.
More than three quarters of Czechs support stricter measures along the outer as well as inner borders of the EU aimed to prevent free movement of people, according to a poll STEM/MARK conducted for public Czech Television (CT) that released it Saturday.
Twenty-two percent of Czechs are against such measures, the poll found.
Around 90 percent of Czechs believe that the EU is failing to cope with the refugee influx.
Forty-four percent of people feel the moral duty to help the immigrants, while 55 percent of the polled are of the opposite opinion.
Under 30 percent of people would help immigrants for political reasons, while almost 40 percent of Czechs would not support any refugees.
The polling agency conducted the poll on 1000 people over 18 before the weekend.
The Czech Republic stepped up checks aimed to uncover illegal refugees on Thursday and the police focus on trains and roads particularly in the south of Bohemia and Moravia and in Vysocina Region.
The number of illegal migrants exposed was about three times higher than usual in the past two weeks. An increased number of migrants are now coming to EU countries, particularly via Italy and Greece and they continue further northwards.
