Fico: Migration in EU Needs Tough Solutions

Brussels, October 17 (TASR-correspondent) - Migration in the European Union needs decisive and tough solutions, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) wrote on Facebook at the beginning of a European Council meeting in Brussels on Thursday. Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala announced on Wednesday that the Czech Republic and a number of other EU-member countries will meet in an attempt to persuade other member states as well as the European Commission that the EU should take a more assertive stance on migration. According to Fico this informal meeting took place right at the beginning of the summit and it was attended by European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen and the leaders of Austria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland and Slovakia. "It has come down to our words that migration needs decisive and tough solutions. We were proved right when we criticised and voted against mandatory migration quotas. I still say it, we need to clearly protect the external borders of the Schengen area and focus on the countries of origin of migration," Fico wrote. The premier specified that Slovakia is among those EU-member states that are contributing to the search for a solution and expressed satisfaction that the European Commission has finally understood the urgency of the situation. zel/mcs