Prague, Jan 17 (CTK) – Turkey must regulate the migration flow in accordance with its deal with Europe, but it is primarily necessary to remove the causes of the migrant crisis and defeat the Islamic State organisation, Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka told Prima TV yesterday.
“We expect Turkey to meet the agreement and regulate the migration streaming across its territory,” Sobotka said.
“Turkey may use its military and police to crush the gangs of people smugglers and make it more difficult for refugees to sail to Greece and get through the Balkans further on it Europe,” he said.
The EU pledged to provide financial aid to Turkey and open new chapters of the accession process if Turkey manages to reduce the refugee influx.
Sobotka said the readmission policy should improve and EU member countries should cooperate in this sphere. An improved readmission policy would be a signal for the economic migrants that they would not be allowed to stay in Europe, he added.
Sobotka repeatedly said a European border guard that would lower the migration pressure needs to be established. He said he believed the border guard could start operating in the second half of the year.
Sobotka told Prima TV that the Czech Republic is ready to turn the Czech Embassy in Damascus in an exclusive distributor of European humanitarian aid for Syrians.
He said it seemed to him that the distribution of the humanitarian aid would not worsen the security position of the embassy.
