Visegrad Four, Benelux discuss migration issue in Prague

After Monday's joint meeting of foreign ministers of the two regional groups, the Visegrad Four and Benelux, Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said here the two groups are no enemies.

Asselborn said that they were not leaving Prague with any joint solutions, but they were able to discuss their views.

He said that the Visegrad Group and the Benelux were not enemies, they are countries that belong to one European Union (EU). They have only one union, and their task is to find a solution.

The core of the dispute between V4 with other EU countries, is the attitude towards redistribution of thousands of migrants across the EU according to quotas.

Visegrad countries, namely the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary, are opposed to the redistribution quotas.

In early May, Asselborn said he had fits of rage to hear some Visegrad countries's statement on migration saying that they do not have a tradition of accepting refugees. Asselborn reiterated on Monday that the essence of the solution must be solidarity expressed by all 28 EU countries.

Czech Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek, who is in the role of representative of the V4 presidency, said that their views on migration differed when it came to the issue of quotas, but it is important that both sides were able to discuss their positions.

Zaoralek said the joint meetings between the foreign ministers of the Visegrad Four and Benelux should become a tradition in the future.

He said Monday's meeting was only in its infancy, and further negotiations in the same format or level of high-ranking representatives of ministries will also take place in the following year.

Unlike the original plan, the foreign ministers of Poland, Slovakia and the Netherlands did not attend Monday's meeting in Prague.

The Benelux are Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. Endit