SLOVAKIA has one of the European Union’s external borders – the most eastern border with Ukraine. Executive Director of the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders (FRONTEX) Ilkka Laitinen visited the Slovak-Ukrainian border on January 15 in order to see Slovakia’s progress in developing integrated management of the EU’s external borders.
Laitinen was accompanied by the FRONTEX Director of Operations Division Klaus Roesler. The two FRONTEX representatives were met by Slovak Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák and subsequently by Director of the Department of the Border and the Foreign Police Ľudovít Bíró.
“Based on his inspection, Laitinen highlighted the fact that even after joining the Schengen area Slovakia acknowledges the importance of an independent foreign and border police,” Police Corps Presidium spokesperson Denisa Baloghová told the TASR newswire. “This is also reflected in the significant progress that has been made in building up EU-integrated border management.”
She added that Laitinen stressed the need to further improve and professionalise this service, while Bíró expressed the readiness of his department for this and also to further improve the system of technical inspections at the border.
(Source: TASR)
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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