Justice minister indicates Czech government far from unanimous on migrant quotas

Justice Minister Robert Pelikán from the ANO party of the center-left governing coalition has indicated that the cabinet is far from unanimous with regard to the government’s rejection of mandatory refugee quotas. In an interview for Lidové noviny, Mr. Pelikán ,who alone openly supported the quotas, said several other colleagues in the Czech cabinet who voted against mandatory quotas were not comfortable with the Czech government’s stand. He would not elaborate on who had voted against their conviction. Culture Minister Daniel Herman alone admitted he had doubts about the government’s stand. On Friday morning Czech Foreign Minister Lubomír Zaorálek indicated a possible softening of the Czech position ahead of a meeting of six foreign ministers in Prague, saying the Czech Republic did not want to block an EU agreement on migrants and hinting that a change of position could not be ruled out in future. However at Friday’s meeting of foreign ministers the Višegrad Four, of which the Czech Republic is a member, reiterated its strong opposition to mandatory migrant quotas.