PRAGUE (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd September, 2018) Europe is divided by the migration issue, and French President Emanuel Macron's initiative to organize an EU summit on the distribution of illegal refugees is abnormal, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis said.
"Europe is now divided by the issue of migration, there are many different opinions, and the fact that French President Emmanuel Macron even wants to organize an EU summit on the distribution of illegal refugees across European countries is not normal, we must do everything in order to completely stop migration to the old continent," Babis said while aired by the TVPrima broadcaster.
According to the prime minister, it is impossible to tolerate any more situations when Malta refuses to accept a ship with migrants while Spain then accepts the vessel. This only plays into the hands of the smugglers, Babis believes.
Last week, Babis met with his counterparts in Italy, Malta and Hungary to discuss the problem of illegal migration. On Wednesday, he will hold talks on the same topic with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. According to Babis, at these meetings he promotes the idea that assistance to migrants should be provided not in Europe, but in their home countries.
"Operations to stop the transport of refugees to Europe can only become effective if we agree with Libya and with other countries from which flows of migrants come. The Czech Republic has allocated 2.1 billion korunas [about 84 million Euros or $95 million] to these states since 2015, plus will invest 551 million korunas [about 22 million euros] in the EU agreement with Turkey," the prime minister said.
Babis also appreciated Saturday's statement by German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas that it is impossible to force certain EU countries to accept refugees, calling it very positive and long-awaited.
"This is an important systemic approach, and Mr. Maas is not the first to say this: minister-president of [the German state of] Bavaria, the Austrian chancellor, Italian interior minister all have very radical views on migration," Babis stressed.
In the opinion of the Czech prime minister, the issue in this case is not only about quotas for the reception of refugees, but also about the internal political situation in European states that is aggravated in connection with migrants.
"I told the Italian prime minister that the struggle for the preservation of our European civilization and culture has actually started, we do not want to live in Africa or the middle East, we must protect our values, but for this we need to find a common European solution," he stressed.
The European Union has been facing an acute migration crisis since 2015 when hundreds of thousands of migrants and asylum seekers arrived in Europe from Northern Africa and the Middle East. Migration has been a thorny topic for EU members amid increased inflow of migrants and refugees. The Czech Republic as well as Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, have been opposed to the system under which each EU member state has to accept a mandatory quota of refugees.
