Mateusz Morawiecki announced the move in the southeastern town of Kraśnik on Monday night, private broadcaster Polsat News reported.
The prime minister told a meeting with voters: “Illegal migrants are arriving through the so-called Balkan trail, via Hungary and Slovakia, because there is no border between Poland and Slovakia. There is a Schengen [European Union passport-free zone] border but we are not checking it.”
Morawiecki stated: “I have instructed the interior minister [Mariusz Kamiński] to introduce checks on vans, cars or coaches that are suspected of carrying illegal immigrants.”
He added that Poland had managed to stem illegal migration through the border with Belarus, the state news agency PAP reported.
Meanwhile, Poland’s Border Guard agency said that illegal migration from southern neighbour Slovakia had increased sevenfold compared with last year, Polsat News reported.
So far in 2023, some 450 illegal migrants have been detained on the Slovak border, up from 60 over the corresponding period of 2022, the Border Guard’s spokeswoman Anna Michalska said.
In an interview with Polsat News earlier in the day, the official stated: “We have stepped up patrols. We are monitoring the situation.”
Last month, Poland's lawmakers approved a government plan to combine the parliamentary elections scheduled for October 15, with a nationwide referendum on issues including illegal migration.
(pm)
Source: PAP, Polsat News
