The Czech Republic’s likely next government is preparing to reject the European Union’s Pact on Migration and Asylum, signalling a sharp break with Brussels’ centralised pro-migration policy.
Karel Havlíček, deputy leader of the sovereignist ANO party, confirmed that Prague would refuse to participate in the pact’s ‘solidarity mechanism,’ which obliges each member state either to accept a set number of migrants or make a financial contribution instead.
The pact is due to take full effect in June next year.
Havlíček declared:
We will not be governed by the European Union. We will respect certain rules that apply there, but we are accountable to our voters.
He added that the incoming coalition—consisting of ANO, the anti-immigration Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) party, and the anti-Brussels Motorists movement—would make rejection of the Migration Pact one of its first decisions after taking office.
The parties are united in opposing the EU’s plans for mandatory solidarity and in pledging to strengthen border protection.
SPD leader Tomio Okamura has also called for tighter residence permit rules and the introduction of his party’s ‘one strike and you’re out’ proposal, under which any foreigner convicted of a crime would have their residence permit revoked.
The Czech Republic’s move places it firmly alongside other Central European nations refusing to comply with Brussels’ migration framework.
In Poland, President Karol Nawrocki has written to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen demanding that Poland be excluded from what he described as the EU’s “illegal migrants relocation project,” insisting: “Poland first, Poles first.” Warsaw argues that after admitting millions of Ukrainian refugees, it cannot accept further obligations.
The outgoing Dutch government and Hungary have also requested an opt-out from the Migration Pact, with the latter saying that restoring national control over migration is “the only option” to stem illegal crossings.
As Hungarian migration expert Szabolcs Janik recently told europeanconservative.com in an interview, the pact
risks acting as a magnet, encouraging people to attempt the journey to Europe because they know they will eventually be admitted and distributed among EU states.
The European Commission has threatened legal action against countries refusing to implement the pact.
Yet opposition is growing. Havlíček said that ANO had consistently opposed the pact “already at the time it was approved,” criticising the outgoing government under Petr Fiala for failing to defend Czech interests.
Former prime minister Andrej Babiš, who is likely to lead the next government after ANO’s recent election victory, described the pact last year as “the greatest betrayal” of the Czech Republic in modern history, accusing Brussels of undermining national security, culture, and social stability.
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