MOSCOW (Sputnik), Daria Chernyshova — Earlier in August, the Czech Republic increased the security threat level due to an increase in the number of non-EU migrants entering the country. The country announced plans to mobilize up to 2,600 troops to counter the inflow of refugees. The military will be deployed to guard the national border should the threat continue.
"I believe that situation should be calmed down and not escalated. Using the army at this point would create a dangerous precedent. We should be more active in the countries from which the immigrants are coming, and also in countries through which they are crossing to Europe," member of the Czech Communist Party Katerina Konecna said.
Konecna agreed, however, with the security threat level in the country being raised, particularly due to the high inflow of refugees from the Western Balkans seeking a way to Hungary.
The current migration crisis in Europe is a direct consequence of US policies in the Middle East and North Africa, Konecna went on to say in an interview with Sputnik.
The lawmaker's statement comes as thousands of migrants continue to flee poverty and conflict in the Middle East and North Africa, traveling across the Mediterranean Sea in the hope of reaching European shores.
"Wars, civil wars, poverty and also Western policies in the Middle East and Northern Africa, NATO and especially the USA are largely responsibility for the events we are witnessing at the moment," Konecna said.
Konecna specified that the war in Libya and the poor post-war reconstruction have plunged the country into chaos.
"US policy in the Middle East and Northern Africa is fundamentally bad and Europe must recognize that and must act accordingly," the lawmaker said, adding that the European Union should boost its diplomatic and humanitarian activities in the migrants countries of origin.
Europe is currently facing a major immigration crisis, with nearly 250,000 migrants having arrived in Europe by sea in 2015 alone, according to UN estimates.
