The Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland rejected on Thursday the idea of limiting the European Union's visa-free area to a smaller number of countries and will invite other EU members to help them fight for its survival.
Prime ministers of the Visegrad 4 group of countries said they agreed at a meeting in Prague to set up a "Friends of Schengen" initiative to keep borders open, a key achievement of their post-communist integration into western Europe.
The Schengen Zone has come under great strain as a wave of people fleeing war and poverty in countries such as Syria and Afghanistan swept into Europe in the past months, derailing the EU system of dealing with asylum seekers.