Salzburg, Austria, July 27 (CTK) – Czech PM Andrej Babis expects migration to be the main issue of the European elections in 2019, he said after meeting Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, whose country now presides over the European Union, in Salzburg on Friday.
“I expect the silent majority to express its stance on migration,” Babis said, adding that the result of the elections to the European Parliament would be a big surprise according to him.
He said the EU must deal with the asylum proceedings with migrants in hotspots outside its territory, fight the people smugglers who take migrants from Africa to Europe, reinforce the European border agency Frontex and try to stabilise the situation in countries from which migrants are leaving for Europe.
Kurz invited Babis to Salzburg together with British PM Theresa May and Estonian PM Juri Ratas. The talks between the politicians focused on migration and Brexit.
“We must stop migration and not let it continue. We have hundreds of thousands of people in European territory who did not receive asylum and should not be here,” Babis said.
Only those migrants who receive asylum could enter Europe, he said.
Like Austria, Czechia rejects the redistribution of migrants among EU member countries. Last year, Kurz based his election campaign on fighting illegal migration.
Babis said he does not want the Czech Republic to undergo changes like other countries that are used to the multicultural model, unlike it.
He criticised the Frontex agency. “Frontex gets hundreds of millions of euros only to report to us which way migrants are coming. We don’t need it for this. If Frontex is to play an active role, it should help the Libyan coast guard,” he said.
Babis recalled that Salzburg State Governor Wilfried Haslauer said at the opening of the Salzburg classical music festival on Friday that Europeans must defend their culture and history. He said he shares Haslauer’s view.
Babis took part in the ceremonial opening of the festival with his wife Monika. The music programme started in Salzburg already a week ago, but Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen officially launched the festival on Friday.
Along with other European politicians, Babis will watch a performance of Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute tonight.
On Wednesday, Babis attended the Bayreuth Festival of Richard Wagner’s operas in Germany. He talked to Bavarian Minister President Markus Soder at the festival.
