Visegrad Group expresses solidarity with Poland in migration crisis
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The Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia pledged solidarity with Poland in the migration crisis on its border with Belarus, at a summit in Budapest on Tuesday.
At the joint press conference after the talks,
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki thanked Viktor Orbán of Hungary, Eduard Heger of Slovakia and Andrej Babis of the Czech Republic for their support.
Morawiecki said the situation amounted to a “new political crisis” where Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko “colluded with the mafia and people smugglers and used human beings to put pressure on the European Union.”
Babis noted that
Hungary had faced “all around criticism” when it built a fence to protect its borders in 2015.
By now, several heads of state have proposed that the EU should fund physical barriers, he said.
Heger called the protection of the European Union’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and member states a “joint task”.
He said he had talks with Austrian Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg on the situation earlier on Tuesday. The two leaders signed a declaration and pledged to provide help on the Polish-Belarusian border. They also condemned the exploitation of migrants, he said. Slovakia has already offered its Frontex officers to help manage the situation in Poland and Lithuania, and was one of the countries turning to the European Commission for help, he said.
Orbán: EU facing unprecedented levels of migration pressure
Speaking to the media with his Czech, Polish and Slovak counterparts, Orbán said Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki had briefed the rest of the V4 on the situation on his country’s border.
In addition to the migration pressure on the Polish border, “NGOs are continuously bringing migrants to Europe’s shores” and the Western Balkan route “is again full”, the prime minister said.
Orbán thanked Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis for his decision to send soldiers to the Hungarian border and their help in apprehending more than 4,000 illegal entrants.
Poland must keep protecting its border from illegal immigrants. Iraqi migrants that managed to enter into Poland can be repatriated. Iraq is accepting the return of its citizens. The EU decided that it will not accept any illegal migrants from Belarus. The illegal migrants stuck at the Belarus border should either apply for asylum in Belarus or return home.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki thanked Viktor Orbán of Hungary, Eduard Heger of Slovakia and Andrej Babis of the Czech Republic for their support.
These are the good guys.
Where is the EU when it should be helping, not attacking countries for defending themselves? Useless bunch.