Slovak Politician: Migrants Should Be Helped, But Not in Our Country

Boris Kollár, a Slovak politician, and businessman, Chairman of the party We Are Family, has spoken to Sputnik about the country's take on the EU migrant crisis.

Sputnik: Is your attitude to the migration crisis still negative?

Boris Kollár: Our attitude has not changed. We have a rather balanced view on the refugee issue, our party will never support the hosting of refugees, but it would be misleading to think that this has given us votes, as is claimed by the media. Only 5,000 out of 170,000 of the electorate voted for us owing to our position towards migrants.

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Sputnik: You will probably agree that the majority of those who come to Europe need help, don't they?

Boris Kollár: Of course, I agree that these people need help, but let them receive it not in our country.

Sputnik: What do you think this help should look like?

Boris Kollár: One way is the hotspots on the territory of those countries from which the refugees come, mainly in South Africa. Another way is economic assistance to these countries.  In other words, we should teach them how to fish rather than just handing them the fish.

Sputnik: The migrants come to Slovakia mainly from Serbia, Ukraine, Romania and Bulgaria, not from North Africa and the Middle East.

Boris Kollár:  I see no problem with regard to Romania and Bulgaria. Our countries are members of the EU and Slovak citizens can go to work in London, Vienna, Munich or other cities, so the Romanians and the Bulgarians can also come to our country. People from these countries and from any other country within the Free Trade Area do not bother me. The problem is the migrants from Ukraine, Serbia and other third world countries, for example, Vietnam. In our view, they decrease the possibility for our citizens to obtain a higher salary because the migrants agree to work for less money.

Sputnik: Could the government formed by the opposition (such as LGBT groups and others) work out a coordinated position on the issues like the above-mentioned migration crisis?

Boris Kollár:  It depends on certainconditions. I think that if we could come to an agreement on the issues of national importance then it would make it possible to solve other problems. LGBT is an insurmountable obstacle for us, no doubt. <…>. We cannot concede this point. As for me, I would rather go back into the opposition than support gay marriage, the Istanbul Convention and things like that.

The views expressed in this article are those of the speaker do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.