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Czech president says EU needs bold reform

Xinhua, December 15, 2016 Adjust font size:

The European Union(EU) needs bold reforms, and countries from which refugees are fleeing should help stop them from heading to Europe, Czech President Milos Zeman said here on Wednesday.

"We have to admit the European crisis exists and we can't pretend that nothing is happening," Zeman said after meeting with his Portuguese counterpart Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa at the presidential palace, during the first day of his two-day official visit to Portugal.

"Before accepting migrants in our territory, we need to help their territories," he said, adding "migrations are realities that will continue in the long-term."

Zeman also pointed out that the EU had to look for ways to defend its barriers.

He also said Britain's decision to leave the EU had reflected the EU's incapacity to challenge several problems and a lack of "strong leadership."

The Czech president then congratulated the Portuguese president for Antonio Guterres having been selected as the United Nations' next secretary general.

Rebelo de Sousa said he believed the new secretary general would have an important role in resolving the Syrian conflict, which he said was a "conflict with no way out." Enditem