Czech PM denies increase in illegal migration

Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek has denied reports in the Austrian press that following the Schengen expansion a heightened number of illegal immigrants have been crossing the Czech-Austrian border. In an interview for the Austrian weekly Profil, published on Monday, the Czech PM said that problems with a large group of Chechen asylum seekers in Austria were caused by the fact that Austrian authorities had not reacted to a warning issued by their Czech colleagues. In other parts of the interview regarding free movement of the workforce, Mr Topolánek said that the Czech Republic has not been a problematic country in this respect. The Czech PM urged Austria to lift the moratorium which he considers to be a discriminatory measure against the Czech Republic.