Latest EES Report Highlights Q1 Border Trends; Czech Police Gear Up for Summer Rush

EU IT-agency eu-LISA released its first-quarter 2026 Entry/Exit System (EES) statistics on 13 July, providing an early look at how the biometric border register is reshaping Schengen traffic flows. Between January and March the system recorded 19,985 refusals of entry, 11,885 extensions of stay and 665 revoked authorisations. Ukrainians topped the refusal chart, followed by Albanians and Moldovans, with insufficient proof of purpose cited as the main reason. Although EES became fully operational only on 10 April, the data already inform staffing models at Czechia’s external borders—the country controls 11 international airports and two major rail crossings used by third-country nationals. The Czech Foreign Police Presidium told Hospodářské noviny that it will redeploy 60 officers from administrative duties to frontline e-gate support during August, the peak inbound month for long-haul tourists and Ukrainian seasonal workers. The quarterly report confirms industry complaints about fingerprint exemptions: nearly one million travellers were waived due to age or physical constraints, complicating automation. Prague Airport has responded by adding manual lanes and warning airlines serving Dubai and Seoul to notify families travelling with young children to expect longer processing times. For corporate mobility managers the figures underscore the need to factor potential entry refusals into assignment timelines, particularly for U.S. staff who accounted for the highest number of stay-extensions—a signal that business trips often overrun the 90/180-day limit. Czech export firms are advised to brief visiting technicians on the importance of exit-date compliance now that stamps are obsolete and overstays will flag automatically in EES. eu-LISA will publish Q2 data in October. By then Czechia hopes to have its national carrier-interface portal live, enabling employers to verify whether a traveller’s biometric enrolment was successful before booking onward Schengen flights.