Polish and Croatian presidents discuss refugee crisis

President of Poland Andrzej Duda said at a joint press conference following the talks that the two leaders have “more or less the same standpoint” on the issue.

“Namely, that you have to try and devote all available energies to eliminating the causes of migration and carrying out an effective European policy,” he said.

Duda argued that “concrete measures should be taken to prevent further waves of migration from arriving.”

In this context, he talked of the fundamental issue of resolving the conflict in Syria, increasing the UN's activities and providing further support for countries in the Middle East that have refugee camps on their territory.

Meanwhile, President of Croatia Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović said that “we must act together to deal with problems where they arise.”

She noted that Croatia is a transit country for migrants, and not a destination.

The Croatian president argued that the European Union needs to define the criteria by which both migrants and refugees will be accepted. She also stressed the need to discuss security issues such as those relating to Greek-Turkish borders.

Following the talks, both heads of state took part in a Croatian-Polish economic forum. (nh/pk)

Source: PAP