PRAGUE (Sputnik) — Slovakia has raised the national terror threat level from the minimum first to the second level, following the recent deadly attacks in Spain and Finland, Slovakia's police head Tibor Gaspar said Wednesday.
"These measures do not mean that there is an immediate threat of terror attacks in Slovakia. But the data showing that some organizers of the recent terror attacks in Europe have been moving in the vicinity of our borders, as well as some other facts call for a rise in the readiness level among all the agencies responsible for order and security in the country," Gaspar said.
According to Gaspar, the police raised the threat level on the recommendation of Slovakia's National Security and Analytical Center (known by its Slovak acronym NBAC), following the attacks across Europe. NBAC agents are now working around-the-clock.
Apart from that, Slovak law enforcement agents will pay special attention to providing security on borders, as well as apply more severe security procedures while granting visas to foreign citizens.
"The increased security level was introduced for an unidentified period of time, but it will be lifted as soon as it is no longer needed," the police head added.
Over the past week, Europe has been shattered by a series of deadly terror attacks, with vans ramming in the crowds of pedestrians in Spain's Catalonia and a stabbing in Finland's Turku. The Islamic State (IS, outlawed in Russia) terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attacks in Spain's Barcelona.
