EU justice and home-affairs ministers meeting in Brussels on 8 December approved the first Annual Solidarity Pool under the new Pact on Migration and Asylum. The 2026 pool provides for 21,000 relocations of asylum-seekers and €420 million in financial contributions from Member States. At Prague’s request, however, Czechia was granted a 100 % exemption from both the relocation quota and the cash levy.
Interior-Minister Vít Rakušan argued that hosting almost 400,000 Ukrainians with Temporary Protection already places exceptional pressure on Czech housing, schools and healthcare. Under the Pact, countries that can demonstrate “significant migratory pressure” may ask to opt out; Czech diplomats successfully invoked that clause. The waiver applies only to the 2026 cycle and must be reviewed annually.
For global-mobility managers the decision removes the risk that Czech authorities might impose new fees or bureaucratic offsets on employers to finance an EU bill thought to be as high as €20 million. It also signals that Prague will continue to prioritise support for Ukrainian nationals resident in the country, a factor companies should weigh when planning assignments involving access to state services.
![EU grants Czechia full waiver from 2026 Migration-Pact ‘solidarity’ payments]()
If your organisation needs practical help securing Czech visas or residence permits for non-EU assignees, VisaHQ can streamline the process with step-by-step online support and on-the-ground expertise. You can explore their full range of services at https://www.visahq.com/czech-republic/.
The downside is that Czechia loses influence over how the solidarity funds will be spent. Some analysts warn that persistent opt-outs could erode goodwill toward Prague when it seeks EU help with future labour shortages or border-management projects.
Practical tip: employers relocating staff to Czechia should watch next year’s solidarity-pool negotiations (expected Q4 2026). A change in migration flows—or in the political make-up of the new Babiš government—could see the exemption revoked, triggering budgetary knock-on effects for corporate immigration programmes.
Interior-Minister Vít Rakušan argued that hosting almost 400,000 Ukrainians with Temporary Protection already places exceptional pressure on Czech housing, schools and healthcare. Under the Pact, countries that can demonstrate “significant migratory pressure” may ask to opt out; Czech diplomats successfully invoked that clause. The waiver applies only to the 2026 cycle and must be reviewed annually.
For global-mobility managers the decision removes the risk that Czech authorities might impose new fees or bureaucratic offsets on employers to finance an EU bill thought to be as high as €20 million. It also signals that Prague will continue to prioritise support for Ukrainian nationals resident in the country, a factor companies should weigh when planning assignments involving access to state services.
If your organisation needs practical help securing Czech visas or residence permits for non-EU assignees, VisaHQ can streamline the process with step-by-step online support and on-the-ground expertise. You can explore their full range of services at https://www.visahq.com/czech-republic/.
The downside is that Czechia loses influence over how the solidarity funds will be spent. Some analysts warn that persistent opt-outs could erode goodwill toward Prague when it seeks EU help with future labour shortages or border-management projects.
Practical tip: employers relocating staff to Czechia should watch next year’s solidarity-pool negotiations (expected Q4 2026). A change in migration flows—or in the political make-up of the new Babiš government—could see the exemption revoked, triggering budgetary knock-on effects for corporate immigration programmes.
