Prague, March 13 (CTK) – This is narrow-mindedness, Czech Interior Minister Milan Chovanec said on Czech Television, commenting on Greece’s refusal to let a Czech liaison officer to the registration places for migrants in its islands over complicated relations between the two countries.
Now the problem will be dealt with by Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek who will meet his Greek counterpart at the EU meeting in Brussels on Monday.
The Saturday edition of the daily Pravo wrote that Greece repeatedly had not given a permit to a Czech liaison officer to enter the hotspots installed for refugees in Greek islands.
“They say off-the-record that this is due to complicated relations. We have the information that other countries have access there,” Chovanec said.
Chovanec said a Greek minister was throwing “poisonous saliva” and that he did let offend his own country.
“The Greeks have the only argument that we keep criticising them, which is absolute narrow-mindedness on their part,” Chovanec said.
He said Czechs had been several times denied access to the hotspots in the past weeks.
“We have no ambition to escalate the conflict, but we must have a partner on the other side,” Chovanec said.
He pointed out that the Czech Republic had sent material aid for 4.5 million crowns to Greece and had given another ten million crowns to the Greek police.
According to the government of Greece, there are 42,000 refugees in Greece, 7700 of whom are in the islands to which boats keep coming.
($1 = 24.398 crowns)
