They push for Greece’s exclusion of the Schengen free passport travel zone.
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The leaders of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia gathered around a cake this week in Prague, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Visegrad Group, an organization that has been largely forgotten since its creation in 1991 following the collapse of communism.
T he most powerful eastern members of the European Union called on Monday for the bloc to develop an “alternative backup plan – ready for implementation” in case existing strategies fail to tackle the refugee crisis.
Releasing a joint statement, the four Visegrád leaders said the migrant crisis is “a threat to peace, security and the prosperity of EU citizens”, and called for all European nations to pull together and join them in securing the continent from illegal immigration, and to end the root causes of mass migration including the Syrian civil war.
Ahead of Thursday’s EU summit on the refugee crisis, the Greek leader will hold talks on Tuesday with visiting European Council President Donald Tusk and on Wednesday with European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker in Brussels.
“Hungary can offer its total support, be it financial, military or defensive to support such a building of a second line of defense that would be to the south of Hungary”, the prime minister added.
Taking unilateral measures will not achieve sustainable results and mastery of the problems associated with migration flows, which will only be achieved with the active contribution and participation of all countries along the route, especially Greece, Borissov said.
The European Commission approved an additional €10 million program to help the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia improve its border and migration management systems.
Orban also said he is for a reasonable discussion on Macedonia’s European Union entry.
Prime Ministers of Poland Beata Szydlo, right, Hungary Viktor Orban, center, and Slovakia Robert Fic …
The central European countries, with the exception of Hungary, have so far not seen any significant numbers of migrants, but they fear they could be swamped as well if Europe’s external borders stay leaky, or if Germany were to close its own borders.
Referring to Merkel’s promise last summer to welcome asylum seekers from Syria, Slovak PM Rober Fico said: “It wasn’t us who invited migrants to our territory and it wasn’t us who destabilised the countries from which these people come”. She is now hoping that at least a small coalition of “willing” European Union countries will accept more refugees.
A day before attending the Visegrad Group meeting, Borissov spoke on the phone with German chancellor Angela Merkel, whose country has been dismayed by the Visegrad proposals about closing the Greek-Macedonian border.
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“Already now policemen from V4 countries are helping on the Macedonian border, we are prepared to strengthen our aid if needed”, he said.
