Czech presidential challenger Jiri Drahos said he opposes the uncontrolled inflow of immigrants into the country, calling for refugees to be managed outside the European Union as the issue takes center stage in next week’s runoff election.
Drahos, who will challenge anti-Muslim incumbent Milos Zeman in the Jan. 26-27 second round of voting, said the country of 10.6 million can’t be forced to accept migrants it doesn’t want, according to an interview published by the Pravo newspaper on Thursday. On the same day, the paper carried an add paid for by Zeman’s supporters that said “Stop immigrants and Drahos, this country is ours.”
Czech politicians have been among the most vocal critics of the EU’s plan to impose compulsory quotas for accepting migrants during the continent’s worst refugee crisis since World War II.