Czech Republic Opposes EU Migrant Reception Quotas

The Czech Republic opposes the European Union's newly-adopted quota system for the equitable resettlement of migrants from the middle East and across the Mediterranean Sea in EU countries, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said on Thursday.

"We have been saying for a long time that we are ready to show solidarity, but we strongly oppose the quotas. We demand that preventative measures be taken, we demand a functioning repatriation policy and an effective solution at the external borders of the EU," he tweeted.

Fiala said that EU member states had negotiated an arrangement where the quotas would not apply to countries already facing an influx of Ukrainian refugees due to conflict. The arrangement will be in force as long as refugees continue to arrive, he said.

"If it turns out ... that some Ukrainian refugees want to stay with us for a longer period of time, the Czech Republic will be able to request financial assistance from other countries," he added.

Last week, the European Commission adopted a new action plan on combating illegal sea migration, under which it will speed up the redistribution of irregular migrants across all of the EU in order to ease the burden of frontline member states. Not all EU member states are ready to accept migrants under quotas, however.

Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski warned in May that Warsaw would reject the migrant quota system.

Europe has been experiencing a major migrant crisis since 2015 due to the influx of thousands of refugees from Middle Eastern and North African countries. Migrants have been trying to reach EU states using various routes, including via Italy, Greece, Turkey and the Balkans.