Instead of mass, uncontrolled migration, increasing the number of births is the only sustainable solution to prevent the extinction of Europe, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis said on Thursday, at the 4th Demographic Summit in Budapest.

Andrei Babis said the coronavirus epidemic has pointed out the indispensable role of nation-states, which are grounded in the concept of family. The family is the key to sustainability and the foundation of society, that is why the declining birth rate in Europe is a problem, he added.

Mr Babic said this figure has improved recently in the Czech Republic, but the country is still far from the 2.1 fertility rate required to maintain a stable population long term.

Podpora mladých rodin, vytváření co nejlepších podmínek pro zvyšování porodnosti, zamezení stárnutí populace. To jsou témata IV. Demografického summitu v Budapešti, na kterém vystoupí @AndrejBabis se svým projevem. Premiér se summitu účastní již podruhé. pic.twitter.com/scbJ3VBh3u

— Úřad vlády ČR (@strakovka) September 23, 2021

The Czech prime minister attributed the decline in the number of children primarily to people prioritising desire for a career, as well as the financial difficulties they experience.

Children are the meaning of life, and everything must be done to enable people to have children,

he said, noting that this is also the view of the Hungarian PM, who provides family support and tax relief for people who have children.

Mr Babis promised that if his ANO party is in government after the election in October, he will insist that the ministry of social affairs and labour provide support to those who want to work, as well as support to those young families who want to raise children.

In addition to helping families, the Czech premier said it was important to shape social awareness.

He criticised the in his terms „climate dogma” argument against having children, which maintains that the fewer the number of people on Earth, the smaller their carbon footprint. Should humanity die out to save the planet? he asked, calling it absurd that “we should not have children” in order to protect the climate.

Mr Babis also reported that on Wednesday he visited the Hungarian border, which in his opinion is the only Schengen border that actually works.

He said people should be provided help in the country where they are born.

As he put it, uncontrolled mass migration has nothing to do with our future, the only sustainable solution to prevent Europe from extinction is to increase the birth rate. This is the common path set out by the V4 countries, Mr Babis concluded.