Slovakia Follows Austria in Tightening Crossings on the Hungarian Border

At its meeting on Monday, the Bratislava government decided to temporarily resume checks at the Hungarian-Slovak border from Tuesday. The measure will remain in force for one month, until May 8, Slovak news agency TASR reported.

The Slovak Ministry of Interior justified the move on the grounds of the need to enforce measures to prevent the spread of foot-and-mouth disease and to allow for the restriction of traffic on the border sections concerned, especially at smaller border crossings, if necessary.

The Slovak National Police Headquarters detailed in a statement that

17 minor border crossings in Slovakia would be temporarily closed to traffic from April 8 to May 8, 16 of them on the Slovak-Hungarian border and one on the Slovak-Austrian border.

In connection with the current decision, the Slovak Ministry of Interior has stated that during the period of temporary border controls, a “crisis unit” set up for the purpose of curbing the disease will decide in the process of determining border crossing points where the possibility of temporarily suspending the passage of motorized vehicles will be suspended. This is to ensure that such traffic is directed to border crossings where disinfection is available. These measures will not affect the so-called “green border,” i.e. the movement of tourists on foot and by bicycle outside the official border crossing points.

Following similar measures introduced by Austria over the weekend, on Monday and Tuesday morning there was a queue of cars for several kilometers at the border crossing at Hegyeshalom (northwestern Hungary). As Police.hu writes, traffic is being slowed down by the Austrian authorities’ disinfection activities in the direction of Austria.

According to Útinform, there was congestion of almost six kilometers on the M1 motorway at Hegyeshalom and two kilometers on the minor border road No. 1 on Tuesday morning.

As Hungary Today reported, Austria suspended border crossings at some crossing points in Hungary and Slovakia on Saturday. Due to the closed small borders and the disinfection works introduced by the Austrian authorities, police had earlier issued a statement warning road users that there could be temporary congestion at the open border crossings.

Currently, the Austrian measure affects a total of 21 border crossings.

ORF reported that on Monday, the longest waiting time for motorists was 1.5 hours at Kittsee, the border with Slovakia. However, those who wanted to cross at Klingenbach from Hungary also had to be patient, as the congestion stretched as far as Sopron, with a wait time of more than an hour.

On Monday, the Veterinary Operational Staff met, after which Agriculture Minister István Nagy informed the media that there was no new outbreak. The minister said that in two of the four farms affected by the disease, the eradication work had been completed and in two the work was ongoing.

The affected farms have been sealed off and protection zones have been designated, where vehicles can only enter and leave after disinfection.

He added that disinfection points have been set up at border crossings and that vehicles can only drive on or off the M1 motorway from Hegyeshalom to Esztergom after disinfection.

The settlements of the affected farms can also only be reached after disinfection, and electric fences have been installed around the farms to keep wildlife away, he detailed. Small farms are being provided with the necessary disinfectants free of charge, he stated.

Via MTI, Police.hu, burgenland.orf.at; Featured image: MTI/Máthé Zoltán