Brussels, June 28 (CTK) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel did not ask the Czech Republic for a bilateral deal on readmission of illegal migrants, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis said before the opening of the EU summit focusing mainly on migration in reaction to a query on Thursday.
Babis said he would not sign such a deal because illegal migrants should not come to Europe at all. He said Merkel is mistaken when she accepts that illegal migrants come to Europe as a fact.
Merkel wants the EU summit to reach an agreement on the movement of migrants across Europe.
German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer wants to return migrants, who have been registered in another EU member country, right on the border. Merkel rejects this, warning about a domino effect resulting in the collapse of the Schengen area of free movement.
Babis said Merkel actually wants to make Italy stop migrants from crossing the borders to Austria and Germany.
He repeatedly said the EU should stop illegal migrants in their countries of origin.
Polish and Slovak prime ministers, Mateusz Morawiecki and Peter Pellegrini, said the EU should focus on the protection of its external borders.
Before the summit on Thursday, Hungarian PM Viktor Orban, Morawiecki, Babis and Pellegrini had talks with French President Emmanuel Macron.
