European Differences over Migrant Quotas
Local Editor
Eastern European countries rejected migrant quotas on Friday, exposing a deep rift on the continent over how to respond to the crisis as new footage raised further questions about Hungary's treatment of floods of refugees.
Pressing his Czech, Hungarian, Polish and Slovakian counterparts in Prague, Germany's foreign minister warned that the influx of hundreds of thousands of migrants could be "the biggest challenge for the EU in its history."
"If we are united in describing the situation as such, we should be united that such a challenge is not manageable for a single country," Frank-Walter Steinmeier said, calling for "European solidarity."
But Steinmeier's appeal to agree to European Commission proposals unveiled on Wednesday to share around 160,000 migrants among the 28-nation bloc fell on deaf ears.
"We're convinced that as countries we should keep control over the number of those we are able to accept," said Czech Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek after the meeting.
The UN's refugee agency meanwhile welcomed the EU plan -- which Berlin has said should go further still -- to distribute refugees, but said more was needed to relieve pressure on frontline states.
"The proposed relocation scheme for 160,000 refugees from Greece, Italy and Hungary would go a long way to address the crisis," UNHCR spokesman William Spindler told reporters, warning though that "our initial estimates indicate even higher needs."
Underscoring the scale of the challenge, a record 7,600 migrants entered Macedonia in just 12 hours overnight, according to a UN official.
And Steinmeier said Germany expects some 40,000 migrants to arrive this weekend.
With the bloc continuing to squabble, EU president Donald Tusk said he would call a leaders' summit if a European justice and home affairs ministers' meeting in Brussels on Monday failed to yield a breakthrough.
"After contacts that I had with member states in the last few days, I feel more hopeful today that we are closer to finding a solution based on consensus and genuine solidarity," Tusk said.
But "without such a decision, I will have to call an emergency meeting of the European Council," he said.
EU lawmakers have called for an international conference on migration bringing together the United States, United Nations and Arab countries.
The apparent failure of Steinmeier's mission came as record numbers of people, 70 percent of them fleeing Syria according to the UNHCR, entered both Macedonia and Hungary.
In addition to the 7,600 entering Macedonia overnight from Greece, Hungarian police said 3,601 crossed the border on Thursday.
From Hungary, the migrants attempt to reach western European countries, principally Germany and Sweden, via Austria, which on Thursday suspended rail services to Hungary.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
Comments
- Related News
