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Czech Republic not to accept refugees till end of the year: interior minister

Xinhua, September 29, 2016 Adjust font size:

Before leaving for a meeting with his German counterpart Thomas de Maiziere on Wednesday, Czech Interior Minister Milan Chovanec said his country is not about to accept any refugees till the end of this year.

Chovanec said the Czech Republic will not allow access to its territory to anyone who do not want there and who will not pass a security check.

He said he would like to get support for a better functioning of the so-called hotspots, devices for the registration of refugees.

In case of hotspots, he said he wanted to achieve a regular examination of their efficiency, including the involvement of EU institutions such as the agency Frontex, but they are still far from being efficient at present.

It is impossible for the Czech Republic and other countries of the Visegrad Four to endlessly substituted for other states in sending the police officers to strengthen border protection of other EU countries.

Chovanec pointed out that the EU should finally recognize that the quotas system does not work and would not work. He said it surprised him that the European Commission is still trying to revive the system.

Chovanec said he also wanted to know from de Maiziere the details of the German plan for refugees repatriations. If it concerned neighboring countries, including the Czech Republic, the country should participate in it.

To date, the Czech Republic has accepted 12 people from Greece. Endit