Interior Minister promises Slovakia will veto migrant quotas

The government does not expect any decision on the mandatory migrant resettlement quotas to be reached at the EU summit of interior and justice ministers set for Monday, September 14. "Slovakia is determined to exercise its right to veto", Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák told viewers of RTVS's discussion show on Sunday. Bratislava won't stand alone in its opposition to the proposal. Robert Kaliňák pointed out that mandatory quotas are rejected by all Visegrad Four countries, i.e. the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. Any constructive decision might be passed only if there's a willingness to also listen to arguments from central European countries, a development that Kaliňák considers unlikely given that EU has failed to convene a summit of prime ministers on the issue. "It seems to me that they're not interested in discussion, but rather punishment for some countries that have voiced their opinion, which is absurd", said Kaliňák. The Interior Minister reiterated that quotas won't save migrants. According to him, the EU should concede that current migration wave heading to Europe through the Balkans is illegal and should devote more effort to protecting the EU's external borders, as Slovakia does.