Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland meet to discuss creating a blockade to stop migrants arriving from Greece
Countries known as the Visegrad group ready to help Balkans seal borders
Leaders of Bulgaria and Macedonia will also attend the meeting in Prague
Germany fears plan will create even bigger backlog of migrants in Greece
Greece to open 'hotspot' migrant centres after EU pressure to stem flow
For more on the EU refugee crisis visit
www.dailymail.co.uk/refugeecrisisBy Simon Tomlinson for MailOnline
Published: 08:29 EST, 15 February 2016 | Updated: 09:06 EST, 15 February 2016
Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland are to meet today to discuss creating a blockade to stop the influx of migrants arriving from Greece.
Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said the countries – known collectively as the Visegrad group – were ready to help Balkan countries seal their borders.
The leaders of Bulgaria and Macedonia will also attend the meeting in Prague.
Mr Sobotka said he would also discuss the plans with the Greek foreign minister tomorrow, ahead of a summit of European leaders at the end of the week.
Apart from Hungary, central European countries have so far not seen significant numbers of migrants.
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But they fear that could change if Europe's external borders stay porous, or if Germany – the main destination – were to close its own borders.
Greece will open four migrant registration centres in time for an EU summit this week as Athens comes under heavy pressure to control the massive influx to Europe.
Four of Greece's five 'hotspot' centres will formally open by Wednesday on the islands of Lesbos, Chios, Leros and Samos, which have been struggling to cope with hundreds of thousands of migrants landing from Turkey in flimsy boats, a government source said.
Each will have enough prefab housing to accommodate 1,000 arrivals for three days, during which they will be registered, have their fingerprints taken and be sorted between those eligible for asylum in the EU and those who face eventual deportation.
Security checks will attempt to prevent the entry of jihadists, a pressing concern after two of the men who carried out November's terror attacks in Paris sneaked into Europe via Greece, posing as refugees.
The fifth centre, on the island of Kos, will be set up slightly later, the source said.
Opposition from local authorities and residents, complaining that the influx has damaged their vital tourism industry, has caused delays to the construction work.
Riot police fired tear gas Sunday at protesters on the resort island who are angry over plans to open the centre.
While Greece has acknowledged delays in the opening of the centres – calling in the army to help complete them – the government insists it is already registering migrants with the help of 400 staff from EU border agency Frontex.
Berlin has focused on working with Turkey to control the migrant flow and fears the Visegrad plan would lead to an accumulation of refugees in Greece, a country already under huge strain.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who will attend the EU summit in Brussels on Thursday and Friday, is under heavy pressure from EU neighbours to do more to stem the influx of migrants.
EU member states on Friday gave Athens a three-month ultimatum to remedy 'deficiencies' in controlling the influx, or effectively face suspension from the Schengen passport-free zone.
Greece has responded by planning to open four 'hotspot' registration centres ahead of the summit.
It comes as an opinion poll published today reveals that around two-thirds of Czechs oppose taking in refugees from war zones, reflecting growing anti-migrant sentiment in a country that has taken a tough stance on the issue.
Central European nations have opposed quotas for sharing asylum-seekers among EU members, and Czech President Milos Zeman is one of many leaders to have used anti-migrant rhetoric.
The latest monthly survey by the Czech Public Opinion Research Centre found 65 per cent of Czechs were against taking in war refugees, up from 50 per cent in September.
Another 28 per cent said refugees should only be accepted until they can return home.
More than one million refugees crossed into Europe last year, most of them fleeing conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Mr Zeman has limited policymaking power, but has said integration of Muslim communities in the country of 10.5 million is 'practically impossible' and called the influx an 'organised invasion'.
He has also said that migrants would impose sharia law, stoning women to death for adultery and chopping thieves' hands off.
His comments have drawn criticism from the government as well as the UN human rights chief.
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