V4 prime ministers reject “mini-Schengen” idea

Prague, December 3 (MTI) – The four Visegrad countries reject plans to reduce the Schengen area of free movement within the European Union, Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka told a press conference after a meeting of his V4 counterparts in Prague on Thursday.

Sobotka said that “opportunistic proposals” would not resolve the migrant crisis but jeopardise free movement, the “greatest achievement” of European integration.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban referred to an initiative made at the summit to set up a “Friends of Schengen” group, in which participants would contribute to reinforcing the external borders, and said it was a crucial proposal. He added, however, that border protection was an “issue of sovereignty” and a national competency.