The EU has decided today (Tuesday) to start formal proceedings against three countries for refusing to accept migrant quotas, AFP reports.
According to Reuters, the EU had been considering sending letters of formal notice to Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic, representing the first legal step in infringement proceedings. The European Commission is keen to make an example out of countries that don’t tow the line on the issue, as it tries to redistribute tens of thousands of migrants from Greece and Italy.
Hungary’s Victor Orban hit back yesterday, telling his Parliament that as long as his party remained in power, they would not be accepting any migrants at all. The country recently started its own proceedings, along with Slovakia, against the EU, on the same matter – stating that: “The decision to assign quotas sends the wrong signal to potential migrants: ‘Go ahead and come to Europe, we will handle the distribution.’”
“Secondly, it’s not effective. These people want to go to very specific countries, not countries like Romania, Bulgaria, or Hungary. Those who were sent to Latvia were back in Germany in just two days.”
Similarly, Poland’s Prime Minister has said her country will not be accepting any migrant quotas and has argued there is no treaty obligation which requires them to do so.
EU President, Jean-Claude Juncker, said in a recent interview: “Those that do not take part have to assume that they will be faced with infringement procedures.”