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Czech PM wants V4 to jointly reject EC migration proposals

Xinhua, April 9, 2016 Adjust font size:

Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said on Friday he wanted the Visegrad Four (V4) group to jointly reject the European Commission's (EC) proposals for tackling migration.

His view is the V4 should reject both the transfer of national powers to the EC where asylum policies of individual countries was involved, and the introduction of a mandatory refugee relocation mechanism.

Sobotka noted the Czech government did not agree with the transfer of migration policy powers to the EC because it considers that the government must be an essential safeguard in the event the economic, social and security situation in the country does not allow the acceptance of refugees. If so, it is the government which must have the power to affect or even halt the process, said Sobotka.

At the same time, he pointed out that the Czech government does not want any permanent quotas. He referred to the case of Iraqi Christian refugees who applied for asylum in the Czech Republic, and some of them have now gone to Germany. He said he thought that the case to some extent shows that the quota system simply does not work, and it is difficult to order these people to stay.

Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo agreed to reject the EC's plan of asylum policy reforms after a joint meeting of both countries' governments on Friday. Sobotka said he wanted to discuss the issue with his Slovak counterpart Robert Fico in Prague next week and expected to discuss it through diplomatic channels with Hungary in order to draft a joint V4 position.

The V4 is comprised of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. Endit