Europe must turn back the boats, the Czech Republic has said, warning the current approach of resettling migrants across the continent is the “road to hell”, and making illegal immigration worse.
Prime Minister Andrej Babiš restated his nation’s position of not taking any third world migrants from other EU nations after Italy asked fellow bloc members to take a share of a batch of hundreds picked up by Brussels border force Frontex in the Mediterranean on Saturday.
“[Like other European leaders], I received a copy of the letter from Prime Minister [Giuseppe] Conte, … in which he asks the EU to take care of the 450 people currently at sea,” said the populist billionaire, who has been described by some as a ‘Czech Donald Trump’.
“Such an approach is a road to hell” and “only motivates smugglers and increases their income”, he said, telling Czech News Agency (CTK):”It is no solution to accept these people. On the contrary, this is just worsening the problem we have in Europe.”
On Twitter, Babiš stressed that the bloc should follow Australia’s lead and turn back the boats, writing: “We must send a clear signal that illegal migration has ended and that the European Union is ready to return illegal immigrants immediately.”
Interior Minister Jan Hamáček said the government is offering Italy alternative forms of assistance including the possibility of sending border guards and experts to help push back migrants in North Africa.
“We must focus on the solution to the migrant crisis causes and the ways of halting the flow of illegal migrants, including the fight with their smugglers,” he told CTK. “We will not tackle the migrant crisis by keeping the door to Europe open to uncontrolled migration.”
The Czech Republic’s fellow Visegrád nation Hungary took a similar line, with Fidesz parliamentary spokesman István Hollik stating: “We will not be accepting anyone, as Hungarian voters made it clear at the last election that they do not want to live in a nation of immigrants.”
Describing the NGO boats ferrying migrants across the Mediterranean as “Soros ships”, in reference to open borders-backing globalist billionaire George Soros, Hollik added that “Hungarians reject the Soros plan”.
Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini initially closed the country’s ports to the Frontex vessels, the government declared a “political victory” after France, Malta, Germany, Spain, and Portugal agreed to each take 50 of the 450 migrants — the majority of whom reportedly hail from Eritrea — and Ireland volunteered to resettle a further 20.