Europe Needs A Clear Migration Strategy, Babis Says

The European Union does not have a clear strategy to combat illegal migration, even with regard to the enlargement of the Schengen area to the countries of the Western Balkans, Prime Minister Andrej Babiš told reporters before today’s departure to Slovenia for the Bled Strategic Forum. The topic of this meeting will be the future of Europe. According to the Prime Minister, the EU will have to negotiate mainly with Turkey in connection with the development in Afghanistan, where the government was taken over by the radical Islamist movement Taliban.

Babiš said that Europe needed to be protected from illegal migration, and reiterated that Schengen, ie the area of ​​free movement, in 2015 was not operational in this matter. “The only country that was functional was Hungary,” the prime minister said, referring to Budapest’s strict migration policy during the great migration crisis.

“We need to say why we no longer have Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia and Serbia in Schengen,” Babis also said. He added that his government has repeatedly proposed extending the Schengen system to these countries.

The topic of the meeting in Bled, Slovenia, will also be the latest rapid developments in Afghanistan. “The experience of Afghanistan also makes us think,” Babis said. “We will see the impact of the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan,” he added. According to him, it is necessary to negotiate mainly with Turkey in order to take care of refugees in exchange. “And the EU will give them money for it,” he said.

Brussels had already negotiated an agreement with Turkey during the previous major wave of migration to Europe, which has significantly reduced the influx of refugees into the EU through the country, and in which Ankara has received money from the EU for the several million refugees it has on its territory.