Prague, March 8 (CTK) – The main result of a new agreement with Turkey should be a clear plan of the refugees’ readmission and the EU makes a mistake if it relies on Turkey only and has no alternative plan, Czech Deputy PM and ANO chairman Andrej Babis said yesterday, commenting on the Monday EU-Turkey summit.
Babis told reporters that the mechanism of the refugees’ readmission must be elaborated in detail.
He added that the situation should be solved directly in Syria. The main aim should be to enable the refugees’ return home and not to deal with how many of them the EU can admit, he noted.
The opposition Communist (KSCM) and Civic Democrat (ODS) politicians consider the demands that Turkey submitted at the EU summit extortion.
KSCM chairman Vojtech Filip said yesterday the Turkish demands must be rejected.
The ODS MPs’ group deputy head, Jana Cernochova, shares this view.
According to the ODS, the talks were postponed and only further quotas were presented at the summit, which is at variance with the previous agreements, she added.
Filip told reporters that Turkey did not show solidarity.
“I must categorically reject Turkey’s demands as extortion,” he said, adding that Ankara ignored the commitments ensuing from international treaties.
If the country really means its request for speeding up its EU accession talks, it cannot fulfil its duties in this respect for foreign tax payers’ money, Filip pointed out.
In his press release, ODS chairmans Petr Fiala rejected another attempt to introduce the migrant quotas.
“The quotas are not working, and besides, they violate countries’ sovereignty. I consider the summit’s results a violation of the existing relocation agreement from last September,” Fiala said.
He said he is convinced that the relocation of refugees would only incite further migrants to come to Europe.
Turkey promised at the EU summit to readmit, at EU costs, all migrants who would get to the Greek islands illegally as of a certain date that has not been set yet. However, it demands that European countries admit one Syrian refugee with the right to asylum per every Syrian citizen returned to Turkey.
Turkey also demands three billion euros in exchange for the implementation of the EU plan, in addition to the same sum agreed last year. Ankara also wants Europe to speed up the talks on visa-free relations and the EU to prepare the opening of new chapters within the EU accession talks with Turkey, a long-time candidate country.
Opposition TOP 09 deputy group head Frantisek Laudat said Turkey’s steps were not surprising.
“Turkey could be expected to use the situation and raise further demands. If the agreement with Turkey is not achieved, the plans B and C must follow,” Fiala told reporters.
The ODS is striving for the migration issues to be on the agenda of the Wednesday lower house session.
ANO deputy group head Jaroslav Faltynek appreciated the effort to solve the migrant crisis.
The senior government Social Democrat (CSSD) deputies did not adopt any stance on the results of the EU-Turkey summit, they only heard information from PM and CSSD chairman Bohuslav Sobotka, CSSD deputy group head Roman Sklenak said.
