The Czech Republic says it will reject the European Union’s new Pact on Migration and Asylum in a humiliating blow for Brussels. The legislation obliges member states to share the burden of accommodating refugees to relieve the pressure on frontier countries.
Under the scheme, governments must fork out roughly €20,000 per person they refuse to take in, or make contributions to the policing of external borders. Andrej Babiš, the country’s new prime minister, told reporters his government would formally reject Brussels relocation scheme for refugees. He said, instead, the cabinet would commit to a “zero-tolerance policy for illegal migration.”
The rejection is scheduled as the first order of business for the new cabinet on Tuesday.
Poland became the first country to quit the scheme last week, having raised repeated objections to the policy with EU officials.
Marcin Kierwiński – Poland’s Interior Minister – said his country had been « released from the mechanism » and was « free from any related costs ».
Brussels had tried to offer concessions to the Czech Republic, saying the government could make reduced financial contributions. The concession was granted on the grounds that the country had absorbed over 400,000 Ukrainians following Vladimir Putin‘s full-scale invasion.
Despite the offer, Prague plans to push ahead with its own national asylum law. The government says the law « will be clear and fair. Asylum will be granted only in exceptional, precisely defined cases.”
The outgoing Interior Minister Vít Rakušan criticised the plan, arguing that it could the migration crisis in the country worse.
He pointed out that the Pact already includes provisions for tightening asylum procedures, strengthening police powers towards irregular migrants, and accelerating court processes.
The heated debates over the EU’s new policy comes as new data show a a decrease in the number of migrants heading to Europe over the past year.
Released in November, the European Commission’s annual migration assessment showed a drop of 35% in irregular crossings from July 2024 to July 2025.
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