Together with the Czech Republic, Slovakia is prepared to create a corridor for migrants to allow them safe passage to Germany, said Prime Minister Robert Fico and Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák at a press conference on Tuesday. Fico claimed that both countries are ready to open such a corridor if Germany wants to accept more migrants. "If the country [Germany] invites them in, simply put - we're ready to create such a corridor in order not to endanger the security of Slovakia and allow them a straight path to the place to which they have been invited", said Kaliňák. Fico pointed out that even though Slovakia is a transit country, it's not exposed to migration pressure like Hungary. "That's partly thanks to operations that the public often doesn't even know about. But first and foremost, we thoroughly follow the rules", said Fico, regarding protecting the Schengen zone borders. Kaliňák claimed that security was stepped up on the border with Hungary some three months ago. "We're ready to crank up all the numbers to the maximum if this pressure keeps going up", said the interior minister, adding that there have been days where as many as 2,000 people attempted to cross the Slovak border. A total of 37 migrants mostly from Syria, along with three smugglers, were apprehended on Monday night, for instance. "Of course, the smugglers will be criminally charged and prosecuted under Slovak law. The rest will be apprehended by police bodies, as should be the case with illegal migrants, and they need to make a personal choice about their fate", said Kaliňák.

Gavin Shoebridge, Photo: AP/TASR