Czech MPs had a heated debate on the EU Migration Pact on Thursday, discussing the process of accepting refugees in the Czech Republic, Euractiv reports.
The opposition ANO (Renewal) party initiated the parliamentary debate on the new migration rules adopted by the European Parliament last week. The Czech opposition is extremely unhappy with the new migration pact and accuses the current Czech government of betrayal, especially for allegedly agreeing to the forced resettlement of refugees.
ANO leader, former Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, called the EU pact the biggest betrayal in the Czech Republic’s modern history by Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS) and Interior Minister Vit Rakušan (STAN).
It is “not a cure but a poison” that serves to “promote the suicide of Europe and its culture,” he said of the pact, adding that although it is too late to save Western countries, it is still possible to prevent the situation in the Czech Republic and Central and Eastern European countries. The ANO leader added:
“We still have time and opportunity to fight illegal migration. The first step is to reject the progressivist welcomers, eco-fanatics and social engineers who want to forcibly improve, in quotation marks, our world.”
Babiš has repeatedly stated that rejection of migrants from different cultures is not a manifestation of a lack of solidarity, but an instinct for self-preservation. Babiš said:
“This must be clear to anyone who sees what is happening in Western European cities.”
The Czech government decided to abstain in the latest Council vote on the migration pact and has no plans to block it in the final official vote on 29 April. Rakušan said during Thursday’s debate:
“There is no way to override a state and order it to accept someone as part of relocation. This is simply not there.”
The Czech Republic is not forced to accept refugees because it can participate in solidarity mechanisms in other ways, the minister said. Rakusan also argues that the Czech Republic will not participate in this mechanism because it hosts hundreds of thousands of refugees from Ukraine.
EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson commented on the heated debate even before it started. She wrote on X a few hours before the start of the parliamentary debate:
“Ahead of today’s debate in Czech Parliament on EU migration, let’s be clear: The rules agreed in the Pact on Migration and Asylum do not call for mandatory relocation, even in a crisis. What is required is mandatory solidarity—financially or operationally. Member states have flexibility. A country like the Czech Republic, which already showed solidarity by hosting large numbers of Ukrainians, will be able to be exempted from any mandatory solidarity contributions.”
Rakušan and other members of the government coalition, including Fiala (ODS, ECR), shared Johansson’s tweet as proof of their claims, however, the opposition criticised her interference in Czech affairs. ANO party member Jaroslav Bžoch reacted on X:
“Let’s be clear. It’s totally unacceptable for the EU Commissioner to comment and get involved in the Parliamentary debate in any member state.”
