Slovakia is against any implementation of mandatory quotas for migrant redistribution in EU member states, said Prime Minister Robert Fico, in the company of Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka in Valtice (Czech Republic) on Tuesday. "I refuse to accept any quota policy, in principle. Political conclusions from the European Council are in place, which have an unambiguous voluntary element", said Fico, adding that it's unclear to him why such an initiative with quotas was proposed by the European Commission. "Did anyone talk quotas when Hungary was targeted by tens of thousands of migrants from Kosovo? Did anyone talk quotas in the case of other countries? Every country has its own pros and cons. It will be a very hard joust inside the European Union", said Fico. He added that if there's a need for discussion on migrants in the Slovak Parliament, he will delegate the interior and foreign ministers to submit a status document to Parliament about what the Government will say on this issue. "We'll welcome it if the Government presents its attitudes in a way that gains support across the broader political spectrum", said Fico.

Gavin Shoebridge, Photo: TASR