Czech Republic Remains Closed to Economic Migrants, PM tells EU

Czech Republic Remains Closed to Economic Migrants, PM tells EU

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis told the European Union that his country will not take another economic migrant. Refusing to submit to the EU’s demand to accept immigrants crossing into European outer borders, the Czech Prime Minister refused to acknowledge any responsibility for foreign migrants. “I went into politics mainly to look after Czech citizens,” he said

Dubbed by the mainstream media as the “Czech Donald Trump,” Babis has joined Hungary’s Orban in rejecting the EU-mandated migrant resettlement plan. As part of a massive “migrant resettlement scheme,” Brussels wants to relocate hundreds of thousands immigrants crossing into European outer borders. “We have lost four years foolishly debating quotas. In short, the message being sent is that Europe is open and that we have to care for everyone who comes illegally and will disperse them amongst us,” the Czech Prime Minister said last month.

Explaining his opposition to the migrant resettlement plan backed by Chancellor Angela Merkel, Babis told German newspaper Bild in an interview this month that he had a obligation to defend the European civilization. “We have to defend our civilization, which was built by our forefathers, and our culture,” he said.

Babis is part of an emerging pan-European alliance challenging the status quo in Brussels. Babis warned the EU elite that the “next European elections will prove what the silent majority actually thinks about illegal migration.” Immigration will be at the top of the agenda as Europe gears up for the EU parliamentary elections in the spring of 2019.

Czech opposition parties have attacked Babis for his tough stance on immigration. The Czech Radio reported the ongoing political tussle in Prague:

Andrej Babiš spent the past two days defending the Czech Republic’s and the Visegrad group’s zero tolerance to migrants policy in Salzburg [EU summit], on the argument that migrants needed to be helped in their country of origin. He returned to Prague to face a barrage of criticism over his refusal to take in 50 unaccompanied child migrants currently living in an overcrowded refugee camp in Greece. Opposition parties called his refusal inhumane, selfish and short-sighted. Thirty-six senators from across the political spectrum –with the exception of Babiš’ own party –wrote him an open letter asking him to make this humanitarian gesture. Milan Štěch of the Social Democrats is chairman of the upper chamber. (…)

Babiš said that he doubted any specific 50 children – be they orphans or unaccompanied minors – actually existed or that MEP Šojdrová had bothered to find out the bureaucratic procedures that taking them in would involve. He argued that helping to find their broader families and helping them in Syria would be better than relocating them to a culturally foreign environment. (…)

Whatever the outcome of this emotionally-charged case, the Czech prime minister knows that on the migrant issue he has strong public backing. According to a recent poll conducted by the CVVM agency more than two-thirds of Czechs still reject the idea of admitting migrants from the Middle East and North African states.

Babis, who came to power last December on a wave of anti-establishment sentiment, has emerged as a fierce critic of EU’s open door migrant policy. Last week, Prime Minister Babis quoted Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama saying that migrants should return home to develop their own counties.

In recent months, a tough stance on mass-immigration taken by the Czech Republic and other eastern European countries has received strong backing from Italy’s anti-establishment alliance which took power three months ago. On Monday, Italy’s Interior Minister Matteo Salvini issued a comprehensive anti-mass immigration decree aimed at stemming migrant influx and surging crime. The proposed legislation seeks to reject asylum applications of immigrants convicted of crimes such as drug dealing and larceny. The bill, expected to become law in 60 days, also wants to strip jihadists of Italian citizenship.

Video: Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama on European migrant crisis

[Cover image via YouTube]

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