Slovak PM says EU will either control migration this year or collapse

Written by David Fletcher 12 Feb 2016
Slovak PM says EU will either control migration this year or collapse

The prime minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico, says, ‘Overlooking tension, nervousness and fear that the EU does not have a real solution to the migration crisis while the migration wave continues could have catastrophic consequences. 2016 will be the year when the EU will either get the migration crisis under control or collapse.’ Tackling the flow of refugees is prominent in his campaign for Slovakia's 5 March parliamentary election. He argues for strengthening EU border protection, and has filed a lawsuit against EU decisions to redistribute 160,000 asylum seekers among member countries. His immigration stance resonates with the country’s 5.4 million Catholic voters. Fico's statements come ahead of next week's Visegrad meeting of central European countries. The Visegrad Group is an alliance of Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia which aims to further their European integration and to advance military, economic and energy cooperation. The group has taken a tough stance on migration, and is at odds with EU neighbours over how to deal with the influx of over one million migrants last year.

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