Czech PM asks for greater EU solidarity over Canadian visas for Czechs

Czech Prime Minister Petr Nečas has asked the President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy for the 27-member block to put more pressure on Canada over the matter of visas for Czech citizens. Canada enforced visas for Czech nationals last year in reaction to a stream of predominantly Romany asylum seekers from the Czech Republic and has refused to reverse its decision. The European Commission has expressed solidarity with the Czech Republic and briefly considered the idea of introducing visas for Canadian diplomats in response, but never took the step. The Czech prime minister urged greater solidarity saying that the lack of action suggested the Czech Republic was viewed as a second-class member of the alliance.