Visegrad Group reiterates objections to EU refugee quota plans
PR dla Zagranicy
Jo Harper
11.09.2015 16:22
Visegrad Group countries meeting on Friday reiterated objections to EU plans to oblige member states to take in mandatory numbers of refugees.
A refugee looks through the fence of the central refugee reception centre of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, in Horst, Germany, 11 September 2015. Photo: EPA/JENS BUETTNER
The Czech Foreign Minister Lubomír Zaorálek said on Friday after a meeting in Prague with foreign ministers of the V4 countries (Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary), as well as Germany and Luxembourg, devoted to the refugee crisis.
Poland’s Foreign Minister Grzegorz Schetyna said the proposal of the European Commission, which wants EU countries to take in a total of 160,000 refugees is "preliminary and open," and that the V4 countries are ready to talk about a new approach to solve the crisis in Europe.
Poland has agreed to take in 2,200 refugees, but this week PM Ewa Kopacz suggested the number could be raised.
"We believe that we should not leave those who find themselves in trouble. This issue is a test and a challenge for us not to divide Europe into a two-speed continent, Eastern Europe and Western Europe," Schetyna said.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier argued in turn that the challenge of the crisis was one of European solidarity.
Steinmeier, the French press Agency AFP reported, had come to Prague to try to change the position of the Visegrad Group countries, which have been hostile to the idea of quotas for refugees coming into Europe. (jh)
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