Beijing/Prague, Nov 26 (CTK) – The Czech government has had the security situation in the country under control since the beginning of the migrant crisis, Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka told journalists during his visit to China yesterday.
“We are of course capable of offering aid to those who need it and of guaranteeing that the law and Schengen rules will be observed,” Sobotka said.
The Czech Republic has insisted on security checks of refugees and the observance of the rules of the Schengen area from the beginning of the refugee wave, he said.
“It was the Czech Republic that proposed that a joint European border and coast guard be established. I am glad that this idea has been developed,” Sobotka said.
He said the country observed the law and the Schengen rules, although it was criticised for it by a number of organisations, including some Western countries.
In the daily Mlada fronta Dnes (MfD) yesterday, President Milos Zeman rejected Sobotka´s view that there is no link between the current migrant wave and terrorism. Sobotka´s stance on the migrant crisis threatens the security of the Czech Republic, Zeman said.
Sobotka (Social Democrats, CSSD) said he can see no sense in criticising the president through media.
In reaction to Zeman´s criticism, Interior Minister Milan Chovanec (CSSD) and Deputy Prime Minister Andrej Babis (ANO) backed Sobotka.
Last week, Sobotka said Zeman had joined populists who sponged on the fear of Islamic State and the migrant crisis when he had made a speech standing at the side of the extremist Bloc against Islam’s representatives on November 17.
kva/dr/rtj
