Slovakia's Police President, Štefan Hamran, has stated that fully sealing the Slovak-Hungarian border is not feasible due to a lack of personnel and technical resources, which would also entail significant costs. Hamran, alongside State Secretary Martin Královič of the Ministry of the Interior, criticized the exploitation of illegal migration as a political campaign issue and called for the abolishment of mandatory certificates for foreigners.
Hamran noted that a significant portion of illegal migrants come to Slovakia solely to obtain residence certificates, highlighting the need to eliminate this requirement. He explained that the police cannot deny entry to migrants crossing the green border and described efforts to secure them as illegal and unviable, given the disparity between the number of migrants and available facilities.
Vice President of the Police Corps, Damián Imre, emphasized that the police are striving to ensure citizens' safety, but political statements are undermining their efforts. He clarified that migrants have not committed any criminal offenses in Slovakia and that police have only used warning shots against smugglers. Regarding comparisons between pandemic controls and current border control demands, Hamran pointed out differences in handling migrant groups and Slovak citizens and noted that pandemic controls required fewer personnel. He also addressed concerns about police staffing and salary issues while expressing support for increasing the number of Police Corps members. Defense Minister Martin Sklenár deemed the demand for full border control unrealistic and emphasized the collaboration between police and the Armed Forces to address illegal migration issues.
