Prague, May 18 (CTK) – The European Union has problems not only with Russia, which concerns the sanctions, but also with the United States, which is an ally, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis said before he left for the Globsec international security conference held in Bratislava this morning.
“The USA has withdrawn from the climate agreement, the deal with Iran, it introduced tariffs on our imports,” Babis said.
On the eve of the EU-West Balkans summit in Sofia held on Thursday, the leaders of the EU member countries talked about the relations between Europe and the USA at an informal dinner. The EU is negotiating with the United States about permanent exemption from the U.S. steel and aluminium import tariffs. The temporary exemption from the tariffs on the EU imports lasts until the end of May.
Babis said migration continues to be one of the major problems of Europe. “It seems to me that the main countries in Europe still fail to understand that we, the Visegrad Four group countries, are absolutely serious on this. It is absolutely unacceptable for us to let anybody else decide on who will live or work in our country,” he said.
The Visegrad Four (V4) group consists of Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
The EU is still seeking an agreement on a reform of its asylum policy that was drafted after the crisis caused by an uncontrolled influx of refugees from war-stricken regions and economic migrants from poor African countries.
Apart from Babis, Foreign Minister Martin Stropnicky represented the Czech Republic at Globsec.
