Prague, Feb 15 (CTK) – The Czech Republic has started negotiating about the resettlement of the first 30 refugees who entered Europe via Greece and Italy, the Interior Ministry told CTK on Monday.
The Czech Republic should accept 2691 people from the countries most afflicted by the migrant crisis by the end of 2017, according to the redistribution quotas the EU approved last year.
The Czech Republic voluntarily joined the European relocation programme pledging to accept 1100 refugees from Italy and Greece.
Two months later, the number was raised by 1591 based on EU talks even though the Czech Republic and some other countries voted against the extension of the original quotas.
The relocation of the first 30 refugees is mentioned in a regular migrant situation report that the government should debate on Wednesday.
According to it, the Czech Republic has decided to accept the first 20 people from Greece and ten from Italy.
Klara Peknicova, from the Interior Ministry’s press department, told CTK on Monday that the ministry has already been in contact with Italy and Greece in this respect.
The report on migration says the relocation of refugees from Italy and Greece has not been smooth and that it is slow.
The Czech Republic has long been of the view that the relocation of refugees will only start to be operable as soon as hotspots, or migrant registration centres in Italy and Greece are launched.
