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Slovak parliament votes to reject migrant quotas

Xinhua, June 25, 2015 Adjust font size:

Slovak Parliament rejected the introduction of mandatory quotas whereby migrants currently in Italy and Greece would be resettled across the European Union. This follows from a resolution that 125 lawmakers voted in favour of on Wednesday.

The House also committed Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico to present this position in the European Union leaders' summit in Brussels set for Thursday and Friday.

Parliament expressed its "profound concern and regret over the tragic situation of migrants who arrive in the EU and are now in the Mediterranean."

Slovakia's legislators also condemned misusing "the topic of migration to incite violence, racism and xenophobia, and emphasised the need for solidarity with EU member states in addressing the current migration pressures as well as the need for responsibility for adopting measures in order to protect the EU's external borders".

The resolution also read that the Slovak legislature rejects mandatory quotas as "an unsystematic solution in the resettlement or relocation of migrants" and "any questioning of the first pillar of the Schengen system, which is the freedom of movement of people." Endit