More Czech police in Serbia, Macedonia

A detachment of Czech police officers is being deployed to Serbia and Macedonia to help their local counterparts patrol the migrant routes.  

Police chief General Martin Vondrasek said that the 55 police officers were being sent to the Western Balkans, specifying that 15 will be deployed in Serbia and 40 in Macedonia. The deployment comes after warnings from German intelligence agencies that the warmer weather might bring a rise in attempts to cross borders illegally.  

Vondrashek said the European Union’s Frontex border agency believes that the Balkan route is slowly closing down, adding that the main migrant route leads from North Africa, across the Mediterranean to the Italian island of Lampedusa and to Spain.  

The Czech Republic has deployed more than 800 police officers in several shifts to the countries along the Balkan route since the migrant crisis started.