Prague, July 9 (CTK) – Zeman considers Syrian Christians culturally close and believes that refugees from an environment that is quite different would not be in a fortunate situation if accepted, Zeman’s spokesman Jiri Ovcacek told journalists Thursday, reacting to the government’s decision to accept 1,500 refugees.
Leaders of both the opposition and coalition government parties and Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka (Social Democrats, CSSD) will discuss the latest migration influx in the Chamber of Deputies later Thursday.
At its night meeting on Wednesday, the government empowered Interior Minister Milan Chovanec (CSSD) to discuss the acceptance of 1,500 refugees in the EU.
Most of them, 1,100 are to come from Italy and Greece, the remaining 400 from refugee camps such as those in Jordan and Kurdistan.
The Czech Republic rejects the refugees quotas proposed by the EU.
“Zeman is still of the view that refugees from an environment that is culturally quite different would not be in a fortunate situation,” Ovcacek said.
“He respects the position of the Czech Bishops’ Conference that has proposed that refugees should be the Christians, among others Syrian ones whom it considers culturally close,” Ovcacek said.
