Lednice, South Moravia, Sept 4 (CTK) – Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni will arrive on a state visit to Prague on Thursday during which he and Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka will primarily discuss EU defence and the protection of its outer border, Sobotka told journalists on Monday.
EU future, too, will be discussed, Sobotka said.
“We will jointly deal with increased cooperation in the sphere of defence and enhancement of the protection of the EU outer border,” he added.
“Italy is facing a strong migrant pressure from Central and North Africa,” Sobotka said.
This year alone, tens of thousand of migrants came on boats from Libya to the Italian coastline. They want to stay in the EU.
Italy has been asking for a coordinated help for long.
EU countries have financially contributed to the Libyan coast guard. The Czech Republic has contributed with 24 million crowns.
If the coast guard detains a boat with refugees, it can return them to Libya. Italy also supports the coast guard in the military sphere.
“I will ask what we can do for an even stricter protection of the outer border,” Sobotka said.
