Visigrad Post, “No more than 12 migrants for Czechia”, 20 April 2017:

Czechia, Prague – According to the redistribution scheme of migrants, Czechia should have taken in 1,600 migrants. But Czechia just said it will not take in more than the 12 migrants it has welcomed.

Czechia is not prepared to accept more than the 12 migrants it has already taken under the quota scheme set up by the European Union (EU) even if that means facing sanctions, the nation’s interior minister has said.

“The ongoing security checking of remaining refugees showed that [we] no longer can accept anyone,” Chovanec said, as quoted by the Parlamentni Listy newspaper.

The security checking of refugees has been obstructed by a number of difficulties and sometimes can take up to several months as refugees tend to leave the camps in Greece and Italy, the minister added.

“The Czech government has to make a final decision on whether [finalization of accepting refugees] should be done at the expense of sanctions. I am in favor of it. We can not let people in here without control,” Chovanec said.

In March, Chovanec rejected Austria’s proposal to punish EU members who refuse to take in refugees with subsidy cuts, calling it divisive, recalls Sputnik.com.

Two-thirds of Czechs believe there is strong tension between Czechs and foreigners, which is virtually the same as a year ago, according to a new poll by the Stem agency. It had been at just 50 percent in 2013. The recent high response reflects concerns over the refugee crisis and terrorist attacks, according to Stem.

This position of the Czech government comes at a key moment, as Hungary and Poland are targeted by senior EU officials for their current policies, especially on the migrant topic, and as Hungary and Slovakia’s trial against the migrants’ quotas begins on May 10.