The Slovak Parliament has rejected the introduction of mandatory quotas whereby migrants currently in Italy and Greece would be resettled across the European Union. This follows from a resolution that 125 MPs voted in favour of on Wednesday. It is an extraordinary situation to see opposition MPs vote together with MPs of the governing Smer party. The Parliament committed Prime Minister Robert Fico to present the approved position at the EU summit in Brussels on Thursday and Friday, which Fico is attending.
Parliament expressed its "profound concern and regret over the tragic situation of migrants who arrive in the EU and are now in the Mediterranean." Slovakia's legislators also condemned misusing "the topic of migration to incite violence, racism and xenophobia, and emphasised the need for solidarity with EU member states in addressing the current migration pressures as well as the need for responsibility for adopting measures in order to protect the EU's external borders." MPs in Parliament pledged Slovakia's readiness in addressing the humanitarian crisis, but urged a voluntary character of the involvement of member states taking into account the capacities of the states. The Parliament called on EU institutions to adopt a comprehensive, systemic and sustainable solution to the current crisis with a particular emphasis on eliminating the causes of the migration flows in conjunction with the countries of origin and transit, including poverty eradication, fight against people smugglers and human trafficking.
