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Slovakia against mandatory quotas on migrants in EU

Xinhua, May 13, 2015 Adjust font size:

Slovakia is against any implementation of mandatory quotas for migrants redistribution in European Union (EU) member states, announced Prime Minister Robert Fico on Wednesday.

"I refuse to accept any quota policy, in principle. Political conclusions from the European Council are in place, which have an unambiguous voluntary element," stressed Fico, adding that it's unclear to him why such an initiative with quotas was proposed by the European Commission.

"Did anyone talk quotas when Hungary was targeted by tens of thousands of migrants from Kosovo? Did anyone talk quotas in the case of other countries? Every country has its own pros and cons. It will be a very hard joust inside the European Union," said Fico.

Fico added that if there's a need for discussion on migrants in the Slovak Parliament, he will delegate the interior and foreign ministers to submit a status document to Parliament about what the government will say on this issue.

"We'll welcome it if the government presents its attitudes in a way that gains support across the broader political spectrum," concluded Fico. Endit