Prague, Oct 17 (CTK) – An active attitude to border protection is a priority of the Czech Republic, Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said in connection with his mandate for a forthcoming meeting of the European Council that the Czech government approved on Monday.
“I am very glad that we will discuss long-term Czech priorities in migration affairs. It is the protection of the external border and cooperation with third countries,” he said in a press release.
The heads of EU state and government will meet in Brussels on October 20-21. The Czech Government Office said the meeting will deal with migration, external relations, trade policy and other economic affairs.
Sobotka said he appreciated that the European coastal and border guard was launched at the Bulgarian-Turkish border earlier this month.
The idea of the guard appeared a year ago in reaction to the immigrant wave.
Sobotka said other proposals such as the planned register of passengers seem to have support in the EU as well.
He said the European Council would talk about the extension of the European Fund for Strategic Investment (EFSI). He said Prague wants the decision to be based on an unbiased assessment of the present functioning of EFSI.
