Czechs to end checks at Slovak border amid migration decline

PRAGUE (AP) — Officials in the Czech Republic say the government will end checks on the country’s border with Slovakia that were renewed last year amid a new increase in migration. The government announced the move on Wednesday. The measure has been in place since Sept. 29 at 27 border crossings and was initially supposed to last for 10 days. The two European Union countries belong to the visa-free Schengen zone. Authorities will stop carrying out the checks on Sunday after more than four months. The Czech Interior Ministry argued at the time that the border controls were necessary after authorities detained nearly 12,000 migrants on Czech territory last year. That was more than during Europe’s migration crisis of 2015.