Heads of state of the four Visegrad countries (V4) and Croaita called for the European Union to take bold action on the migrant crisis durint their meeting in Hungary. The EU must take immediate, bold action on the migrant crisis, as the continent is running out of time, President János Áder said.
”The humanitarian aspects are very important, especially with the coming winter ... we would be making a big political mistake if we neglect the criminal and national security aspects of this migration wave," Janos Ader said.
Czech President Milos Zeman said his country understands “the difficult situation” Hungary and Croatia are in, and voiced his hope that the EU would take bolder steps to resolve the crisis, as so far it has been incapable of properly protecting its external borders.
Polish president Andrzej Duda called for an effective and efficient European migration policy, which he said does not exist today. It was important that EU member states demonstrate solidarity towards one another to prevent a split between new and old member states, said Slovak President Andrej Kiska said. Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic said the migrant crisis was a long-term challenge which would continue to pose a problem for the EU over the coming years.
Earlier this week Visegrad countries have agreed to send police and soldiers to help patrol Hungary's border with Croatia. The foreign troops will help to patrol a fence protected with razor wire it is building on the border with Croatia to control the flow of migrants. Hungary has seen an unprecedented mass inflow of illegal immigrants this year. Since January, some 330,000 crossed the border illegally. After Hungary erected the fence on the Serbian border, migrants made a detour from there to reach Hungary via Croatia, fom where they moved on, most of them ending up in Germany.
