European countries plan to reject migrant quotas

  • Migrants
European countries will reject mandatory quotas. Credit: Reuters

The leaders of Slovakia and the Czech Republic have called a meeting with their Hungarian and Polish counterparts, hoping to forge a common position to reject any EU quotas for redistributing the thousands of migrants and refugees who have arrived in recent weeks.

Slovak prime minister, Robert Fico said the country would not accept binding quotas:

Both Zeman and Fico plan to reject mandatory EU quotas. Credit: Reuters

Fico said Europe should focus on tackling the causes of the crisis and criticised Western support for opposition groups in Syria and Libya, saying they had helped fuel the civil wars there and therefore the flight of so many from their homes.

Similarly, Czech President Milos Zeman says the country will protect its own border if the EU is unable to do so.

Polish Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz said she understood that the European Commission would need to agree quotas for migrant intakes as the number of refugees coming to Europe has exceeded expectations.

In July, Poland agreed to accept 2,000 migrants from Syria and North Africa by 2017 as part of an EU plan to relocate refugees. She says:

Meanwhile, Hungary has summoned the French ambassador over criticisms made about the country's handling of the crisis.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius accused eastern European states, notably Hungary, of a "scandalous" policy towards refugees going against the values of the European Union.

He was especially critical of a fence that Hungary is erecting on its southern border with Serbia.

French foreign minister, Laurent Fabius accused eastern European states of a Credit: PA

Hungary's status as an eastern outpost of Europe's passport-free Schengen area has made it a transit route for tens of thousands of migrants from the Middle East and beyond heading for western Europe via the Balkans.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the future of Schengen would be in question if Europe cannot agree on redistributing refugees.

Most of the migrants arriving in Hungary aim to move on to wealthier countries further west such as Germany, which is expecting an influx of some 800,000 people this year alone.

Slovakia, which lies north of the main 'Balkan route' for migrants passing through Hungary, has seen only a fraction of the numbers flowing through Hungary and received only 109 requests for asylum since January.