Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis (ANO) has warned that the European Union needs a major reform and that powers must return from Brussels to national capitals. He also rejected the allegations about democracy being threatened in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland.
In a recent interview with The Financial Times (FT), Babis also confirmed his cabinet’s opposition to the EU’s refugee quotas for the redistribution of migrants across the bloc.
“We cannot accept all the migrants from the planet,” he said. “If you had the centres inside Europe, then who will decide where these people will go? Who will give them asylum?”
According to Babis, the EU must make a deal with north African countries, such as Libya and Tunisia, similar to the agreement it had signed with Turkey, and help the potential refugees in their respective countries, in Syria, Nigeria and others.
“This should be the way to solve this problem,” he said.
As for accusations that his country’s democracy is under threat, Babis said: “The people are free to vote, and if they are not satisfied with politicians in Hungary or Poland they will change them”.
