Slovakia shouldn’t be forced to accept migrants, says Prime Minister

Slovakia shouldn’t be forced to accept migrants, says Prime Minister

Slovakia is in favour of combating smugglers, tackling the initial causes of migration and the protection of external borders, but it rejects mandatory quotas because the country shouldn't have to pay for someone else's mistakes and accept foreigners without their consent, stated Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini (Smer-SD) at a session of the parliamentary European affairs committee ahead of the EU summit in Brussels (June 28-29).

"The summit won't be easy; the agenda is very demanding. We know now that consensus won't be achieved in all areas. Regarding the migration issue, we'll speak about the actions of individual countries," said Pellegrini on Tuesday. According to the premier, the Dublin Convention concerning the EU's asylum policy will also be discussed at the summit, but no political agreement is expected in this regard.

"The opinions are very different. Slovakia won't back down, and it will observe the idea that the quota mechanism, if the [amended] Dublin Convention involves it, should be applied only on a voluntary basis, not mandatory," he said, adding that Slovakia will insist on a consensus vote in this regard and will reject sanctions for countries that don't accept migrants. Pellegrini also stressed that Slovaks aren't selfish, they're willing to help, but not by accepting migrants. In addition to reform of migration policy, the EU summit will deal with the USA's tariffs, Brexit, the EU budget, security and banking union.

Before arriving at the summit in Brussels on Wednesday, the Slovak premier is set to stop off at a Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly session in Strasbourg. He'll hand over a bronze bust of Alexander Dubček, the leading figure in the 1968 Prague Spring movement, to the Council of Europe and unveil his memorial star in front of the body's headquarters.

Gavin Shoebridge, Photo: SITA

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