V4, Croatia presidents urge stronger EU action on migration – PHOTOS

Budapest, October 9 (MTI) – The European Union must take immediate, bold action on the migrant crisis, as the continent is running out of time, the Hungarian president said after a meeting with his Croatian and V4 counterparts in Balatonfured, in western Hungary, on Friday.

Speaking at a joint press conference, Janos Ader said the heads of state agreed on the most important aspects of the migrant crisis in their first meeting of the two-day summit.

Ader said the migrant crisis was a humanitarian, law enforcement and security challenge. Some 300,000 migrants have arrived in Hungary, and over 100,000 in Croatia, some of them in fact fleeing war, and the EU is obliged to take care of them, he added. He noted the importance of fighting people smuggling as well as tackling national security risks posed by migrants “with a certain mission”.

Participants in the conference agreed that the EU should step up control along its external borders through legal means; it should provide appropriate care to those in need and set up hotspots in countries neighbouring crisis zones, Ader said. The EU should provide more funding for proper health and social services, as well as education at those facilities, he added.

A single country or even the EU cannot resolve the migration crisis alone; a broader international effort is required, Ader insisted.

Czech President Milos Zeman said his country understands “the difficult situation” Hungary and Croatia are in, and expressed hope that the EU would take bolder steps to resolve the crisis, as so far it has been incapable of properly protecting its external borders.

Zeman noted that Czech representatives rejected the EU’s quota regime and added that his government had decided to deploy Czech troops at the Hungary-Croatia border.

Andrzej Duda, the Polish president, said that an effective and efficient European migration policy would be needed, which he said is absent today.

Duda said that though some European countries disapprove of the quota system, they deem humanitarian aspects important. He also stressed the importance of granting aid to countries where refugee camps already exist.

Slovak President Andrej Kiska said it was important that EU member states demonstrate solidarity towards one another to prevent a split between new and old member states.

Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic said the migrant crisis was a long-term challenge which would continue to pose a problem for the EU over the coming years.

Grabar-Kitarovic also said that refugee camps should be set up in the first country refugees enter after leaving their homeland. A distinction should be made between refugees and economic migrants, the EU’s defence capabilities should be strengthened and cooperation built with Turkey, she added.

Photo: MTI

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters