According to Petr Fiala, the European Union is doing nothing substantial to combat illegal immigration. These harsh words come against a backdrop of high migratory tensions and political upheaval in Central Europe.
Urgent need for migration reforms
During his visit to Austria on Monday 4 December, the Czech prime minister welcomed the reintroduction of border controls by Vienna.
Petr Fiala and his Austrian counterpart Karl Nehammer spoke in unison in defence of a policy of strengthening the EU’s external borders, speeding up the repatriation of illegal migrants and cooperating with third countries.
Our countries agree that the EU urgently needs to reform its migration policy. The current situation is unsustainable, and we need to fing a common European solution very quickly”, said Fiala.
Reintroduction of national border controls
Faced with an increasing influx of illegal migrants into Europe, a number of EU and Schengen member states have decided in recent weeks to temporarily reintroduce national border controls.
These include Slovakia, Austria and Germany, which have chosen to make difficult choices that run counter to the spirit of European integration.
NewEuropean Migration Pact
Differences are emerging between the Member States over the new five-part migration pact currently being prepared in Brussels.
The Czech Republic is in favour of the pact, but Hungary and Poland have indicated that they will veto it, pointing in particular to the system for compensating migrants in emergency situations.
Political changes in Central Europe
The new Slovakian government led by Robert Fico has also joined the protest, but Poland may now support the migration pact, with Donald Tusk likely to head a government in Warsaw as the PiS fails to form a majority.
Finally, while he had harsh words to say about illegal immigration, the Czech prime minister said he was opposed to re-establishing national borders:“We are not happy about temporary checks at Schengen’s internal borders. They help to combat migration, but it would be more effective to tackle the causes, and we can only do that at the European level. Unfortunately, we are far from that,” Fiala said.
