Illegal migration should be countered at all costs, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis told Novinky outlet following a meeting with the head of Germany's Bavaria region, Markus Soeder, according to Sputnik.
"After the talks with the Bavarian minister president, I am even more convinced that illegal migration should be fought at all costs. The society in Germany is split," Babis told the outlet in an interview, published on Saturday.
Babis said, regarding the European Commision's proposal to encourage member states to accept migrants, that the commission was wrong in its assessment of the situation. The migrants should be given help in their countries, the Czech prime minister said.
Babis added that the Czech Republic had many other problems to solve, including the low income level of many of its citizens.
In his June statement, the Czech prime minister hailed the step back from the quotas system under which each EU state was expected to take in a certain number of refugees. The system was the source of conflict in the bloc as several countries were unwilling to meet the requirements.