Representatives of main Czech political parties criticize Canada’s reported intention of reintroducing visas

Senior representatives of the main Czech political parties have spoken out against Canada’s reported intention to reintroduce visa restrictions for Czechs. On Friday, Czech Television broadcast a report claiming that Canada had already decided to reimplement visas for Czechs and would make the announcement publicly on Tuesday. On Saturday, head of the Czech Social Democrats, Jiří Paroubek, called the move ‘scandalous’, while Christian Democrat leader Cyril Svoboda described the step as ‘unacceptable’. Ottawa is thought to want to reintroduce visas due to the high number of asylum claims it has been receiving, predominantly from members of the Czech Republic’s Romany community. In the first four months of this year alone, some 1,077 Czechs applied for asylum in Canada. On Saturday, the head of the Czech Communist Party, Vojtěch Filip, voiced his ‘sadness’ at Canada’s alleged intention, while deputy head of the Civic Democrats, Petr Nečas, said that such a move ‘unfriendly and unaccommodating’.