Czech Republic may take action if permanent migrant quotas among EU members approved

Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said in a TV interview on Sunday that the Czech Republic did not rule out taking actions over the introduction of permanent redistribution mechanisms of migrants among EU countries if they are approved.

He hopes that the Czech Republic could prevent the approval of permanent quotas in cooperation with other countries. If this fails to happen, he would not exclude any possibility of further steps to be taken.

When talking about the question of a possible lawsuit, he said he did not want to rule out any reaction beforehand.

The Czech government has previously refused to join the lawsuit which lodged by Hungary and Slovakia with the European Court of Justice against the decision of the EU Council in 2015.

According to Sobotka, it would be a mistake to join this lawsuit, because the Czech government's situation would be worsen.

In September 2015, when the interior ministers of the EU approved the quotas for reallocation of tens of thousands of refugees, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania and Hungary were against it, while Finland abstained.

Sobotka said a broader coalition than just the Visegrad Four (the Czech Republics, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) group should be formed against the permanent redistribution mechanism of migrant.

According to him, the Czech Republic will seek to discuss this affair in the European Council where decisions are taken by heads of state and government unanimously, while the Ministerial Council of the EU uses majority voting.

"If it (blocking mechanism) fails, then I would not rule out the possibility of any reaction from the Czech Republic," said Sobotka. Endit