Government Extends Temporary Checks at Borders with Hungary and Austria

Bratislava, May 7 (TASR) - At its session on Wednesday the government decided that checks on the borders with Hungary and Austria reintroduced due to foot-and-mouth disease will be extended until July 7. Temporary checks at Slovakia's borders with Hungary and Austria were resumed due to the occurrence of foot-and-mouth disease among cattle in several locations in Hungary, along with the subsequent transmission and spread of the disease to Slovakia. The government decided to reintroduce checks on April 7. Originally, the measure should have expired at midnight on May 7. "With regards to the persistence of the highly contagious, acute, febrile viral animal disease known as foot-and-mouth disease among cattle in several locations in Hungary, with subsequent transmission to Slovakia, there's a need to continue the measures taken in order to prevent the spread of the disease from abroad," stated the Interior Ministry in its explanatory report. Although foot-and-mouth disease has not yet been confirmed in Austria, it's also necessary to temporarily resume checks at the border with Austria due to the geographical areas in which the disease has emerged, added the ministry. For the duration of the checks, the Interior Ministry can set locations via which the border can't be crossed by motor vehicles. ko/df