"I am glad that our words came out that illegal migration is not a problem of Slovakia, the Czech Republic or Austria, but a problem of the EU," said Slovak Interior Minister Roman Mikulec after the extraordinary meeting with his EU counterparts in Brussels. The ministers addressed the migration crisis in the central Mediterranean and the growing number of migrants arriving in Europe via the Western Balkans route.
The Council of Ministers discussed further concrete steps to tackle migration from the position of the European Commission and from the perspective of some member states. "We need a quick implementation of steps to stop migration where it arises and not to deal with it inside the EU and not to introduce internal border controls, as is happening now," he said. According to Mikulec, until a common EU asylum and migration policy is in place, similar crises will have to be dealt with again and again.
"These are steps that we have already activated at our regional meetings, most recently on Thursday in Prague, where the common approach of Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Austria towards the western migration route was discussed, for example in joint border protection, and the need to push the Western Balkan countries to align their policies with the EU," Mikulec explained.
Slovakia is participating in the protection of the Hungarian-Serbian border and takes part in joint patrols on Hungarian territory, which, he said, can prevent a greater flow of migrants into the Union. Slovakia insists on a stricter return policy, where the European Commission must increase pressure on countries of origin and transit of irregular migrants.
Source: TASR
