Czech President signs border protection law into effect

Czech President Milos Zeman on Tuesday signed the border protection law into effect. Under the law, the Czech Interior Ministry will have the right to order temporary border checks in case there is an acute threat on the border.

According to the law, the maximum term of the border checks would be five days and their prolongation would need the approval of the government.

Czech Interior Ministry will have the right to order border controls if there is a serious threat of violation of order or to home security. If no serious situation occurs, the government would have the right to decide on the border's closure.

The government also has the right to cancel the Interior Ministry's decision of border closure.

The law sets down that the government may determine the extent, way and intensity of the border checks. The checks could be in selected places or along the whole border of the country, these could be random road and rail checks or systematic checks.

It allows the government to impose a ban on crossing the green border, and the government could decide where the border can be crossed, at least at the former border crossings.

The law also sets down the conditions for the gaining of the international airport status and the duties of plane captains and airport operators. Endit