After Brexit, EU Appoints New, Anti-Immigration President

By Jacob Bojesson

One of Europe’s most outspoken opposers of immigration, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, will take over Monday as president of the European Council.

The European Council serves as the executive body of the European Union, and the presidency rotates every six months. Fico has made headlines for his opposition to accepting refugees. Shortly after getting re-elected in March, he said “Islam has no place in Slovakia.” (RELATED: Slovakian Prime Minister: ‘Islam Has No Place In Slovakia)

“It may look strange, but sorry, Islam has no place in Slovakia,” Fico told reporters in May. “I talked about it several times with the Maltese prime minister and he said the problem was not in migrants coming in, but rather in them changing the face of the country.”

Fico will be face with the job of overseeing EU’s dealings of migrants, as well as exit negotiations with the U.K. Fico said Friday he understands the decision by the British people, as “the giant part” of Europeans are fed up with the EU’s financial and immigration policies.

“It would be a big mistake if the reaction of the 27 countries was the same as the policy of the EU has been so far,” Fico told the Slovakian TASR newswire. “It’s up to us to say that the fundamental policies of the EU must go through fundamental changes.”

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