Democracy Digest: Slovakia and Czechia Join the Afghan Hounding

"We want to help Afghanistan and countries in that region," Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger told a news conference. "But we don't want a repeat of the situation from 2015, so that's where we'll aim all our steps."

More than a million people from the Middle East and Africa fled war and poverty six years ago, many leaving refugee camps in the hope of finding a better life in Europe. Hundreds of thousands crossed from Turkey via the so-called Balkan route before it was sealed off in a succession of border closures, RFE/RL noted.

Heger echoed the sentiments of Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis, who expressed concerns over a mass influx of Afghans to Europe, where "there's really no place for them".

"A better alternative is a solution making the people stay in Afghanistan," he concluded.

Slovakia organised two evacuation flights from Kabul airport and rescued more than 50 people with ties to the country. Many more, however, were left stranded in Afghanistan. The Czech Republic evacuated almost 170 Afghans with ties to the country, most of whom have since applied for asylum or subsidiary protection in the country.

After an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers this week, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto said: "Hungary has a clear position. We have brought out the Afghans who helped us, but we are not willing to accept anybody else - we don't even want to consider it."

Szijjarto described intense discussions among his European colleagues about whether to call on the Taliban to release those who want to leave the country, but the group of Central European countries have rejected that idea. Szijjarto said this would have given a blank cheque for all Afghans to leave and would mean committing the...