The EU launches legal action against Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic for refusing to take in their share of refugees under a controversial solidarity plan.
The move shows the frustration in Brussels over the slow response to the scheme, which aimed to relocate 160,000 migrants from frontline migrant crisis states Italy and Greece but which has so far seen only 20,000 moved.
Migrants and refugees arrive at the railway station in Szentgotthard, 246 kilometers southwest of Budapest, Hungary, near the Austrian border, Saturday, September 19, 2015. (Gyorgy Varga/MTI via AP)
“I regret to say that despite our repeated calls, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland have not yet taken the necessary action,” EU Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos tells a news conference.
“For this reason the (European) Commission has decided to launch infringement procedures against these three member states,” he says at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France.
Brussels last month set a June deadline for Warsaw and Budapest to start accepting migrants under the plan to ease the burden on Italy and Greece, or risk sanctions. Prague also came under pressure after effectively dropping out.
— AFP
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