The Czech Republic appreciated the efforts made by Hungary towards managing the immigration crisis – said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) to the Hungarian news agency MTI on Friday.

The Ministry’s communication emphasised that in an interview that appeared on the news portal Aktuálne.cz on Friday morning Czech Minister of the Interior Milan Chovanec argued that if all of the Member States of the Schengen Area were fully observing the effective European laws not a single illegal immigrant would be able to make it to the Czech Republic. The politician listed Hungary among the countries to which his remark applied.

The MFAT announced that after the appearance of the interview Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó called on the Hungarian Ambassador in Prague to contact the Czech Ministry of the Interior in relation to the announcement.

Thereafter the head of the Czech Ministry of the Interior’s department for international cooperation and EU affairs, Katerina Flaigová, contacted the Hungarian Embassy to explain they were sorry for the appearance of the interview in such a form and acknowledged Hungary’s efforts in managing the immigration crisis. At the same time, she expressed the Czech Republic’s appreciation of the Visegrád cooperation regarding the problem, as proven by the fact that the Czech Republic had commissioned a 50-strong police force to help defend Hungary’s southern border.

(MTI/Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade)