Slovakia’s government wants police to stop issuing confirmations of stay, recruit 500 soldiers and help deal with the increased number of migrants in southern cities, which has become an issue in the election campaign, Prime Minister Ľudovít Ódor said at a press conference on Wednesday.
Around 700 migrants arrived in Veľký Krtíš on Tuesday, where police organised an ad hoc temporary shelter while they waited to be processed by the authorities. Ódor said there was “no immediate threat” as police had managed to distribute the migrants to foreign police units around the country.
A pull factor for migrants, according to the government, is the ‘confirmation of residence’ issued by the police to migrants. In response, the government has already passed a resolution to make this practice optional rather than mandatory.
The confirmation was introduced in 2018 by the Smer government, whose leader, Robert Fico, is now heavily criticising it. After confirmation, other EU countries can send the people back to Slovakia, even if it was not their point of entry.
However, because the migrants do not wish to stay in Slovakia, State Secretary of the Interior Ministry Martin Královič said he does not see a practical use of it to the migrants but assumes “the transiting migrant has a type of sense that getting it would help”.
Among the various measures, the government plans to speed up the process by increasing police capacity by up to 500 members of the armed forces.
Despite introducing the confirmation practice in 2018 and criticising it, Smer is saying its MPs will not vote to make it optional, calling the change “an excuse” and urging migrants be detained.
The increase in the number of migrants in irregular migrants comes after Hungary released 1,400 traffickers from its prisons, which MP Juraj Šeliga of the Democrats (EPP) party alleged could be an attempt to help give Fico an “election topic” as the Smer government could be a new ally to Orbán in case it formed a government after 30 September.
These measures still need parliamentary approval to become law.
(Barbara Zmušková | EURACTIV.sk)
Read more with EURACTIV
Greek agri minister favours new gene editing techniques to boost production
Source: euractiv.com
