Slovak trade unions block border crossings

Trade union members in Slovakia blocked five border crossings in protest at low wages and high unemployment.

They lifted their blockades after several hours, but warned that more demonstrations may follow.

Slovakia has one of the highest unemployment rates in Europe, almost twenty-one percent.

The BBC correspondent in the region says the Slovak industry was hit hard by the fall of communism, but the last two years have been made even tougher by the austerity measures introduced to prepare the country for European Union membership,

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service