Slovakia closed border with the Ukraine

Slovakia closed border with the Ukraine

According to the words of Slovakian interior minister Robert Kalinak, the danger of A/H1N1 “swine flu” spread from the Ukraine is too high. The fear of the virus was the reason for Slovakia to close almost all the border transit points on the Slovakia-Ukraine border, except a car checkpoint in Vysne Nemecke.

So far, Ukraine has over 130 people dead to both normal and swine flu and more than 870.000 infected with the virus, as said by the country’s Health Ministry.
Still, the actions of Slovakia don’t mean complete sealing of the border. Robert Kalinak also said that the border guards may stop the foreigners with flu symptoms from entering the country.

It’s worth mentioning that Slovakian Foreign Ministry had already discouraged Slovakian citizens from visiting Ukraine. A statement containing such advice was issued on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials are still arguing about the danger of the flu. Yulia Tymoshenko, prime-minister and the sexiest head of state in the world, said, that there is no need for declaring nationwide emergency. But Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) chief, Raisa Bohatyryova said on Friday, that there were 'constitutional prerequisites' for that.

According to Slovakia's Health Ministry, 12,000 people had contracted flu over the past week, with the number of those infected with swine flu rising to 200 people.

Date: 12.11.2009