Those in charge of the Czech Republic remain incredibly wary of the EU’s migration policy and continue to believe it carries big security risks.
That’s according to Aleš Chmelař, their Secretary of State for EU Affairs, who made clear to Euractiv that: “Our response is based on the same arguments we have been using since the beginning – that the relocation scheme has many technical flaws, which cannot be solved without putting forward other initiatives.”
Brussels has been furious at resistance from the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland to its insistence to take in migrant quotas, with legal action and even the suspension of voting rights now on the table if they don’t comply.
However Chmelař insists: “The mechanism cannot effectively solve the crisis and it creates further security problems and disproportionate risk distribution, while we are not in control of the overall volume of risks and costs.”
“…It is not sensible to share risks and costs when the number of incoming persons and the volume of the costs are not clear, and when the rules of the asylum system are not observed. It is an important principle that has been followed at every step of the European project, i.e. it is not sensible to share a burden if we are not able to control its volume.”
What we are seeing is another huge clash, between European governments wanting to protect their people and keep their country safe, and the EU seeking to bulldoze its way through democracy. This is not a happy, cohesive Union.