Jean-Claude Juncker told European lawmakers in Strasbourg that the burden of dealing with the asylum-seekers must not be left to Italy, Greece and Hungary, where they first arrive.
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“The fight against Islamic State is one of the big challenges”. The European Union unveiled plans to take 160,000 refugees from overstretched border states, as the United States said it would accept more Syrians to ease the pressure from the worst migration crisis since World War II.
He said European countries that were part of the Schengen no-borders zone – which Britain has not joined – had to reach their “own answers”. Greece, Italy and Hungary are not included. Ireland is also taking 520 refugees from camps outside Europe.
More than 165,000 migrants have crossed into Hungary so far this year.
They raised further concerns over the treatment of refugees in Hungary, which saw record numbers of arrivals on Thursday and is set to implement harsh new laws next week that will allow it to jail migrants.
While Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban remains vocally opposed to relocation quotas, his country will now benefit from the scheme, having taken in tens of thousands.
The plans must be approved by a majority of EU states, and Berlin said it was open to a special EU refugee summit after the ministers’ meeting and ahead of the next scheduled EU summit on October 14.
“The compulsory quotas are not a good solution”, Sobotka said in a statement. But German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned Wednesday that those incoming asylum-seekers must make a strong case for remaining in the country.
It was not only a humanitarian issue but also a test of the EU’s fundamental ability to act in a unified manner and in accordance with its values, rather than following some musty bureaucratic language or practices.
“It is clear that this is a serious crisis, but for me it is also clear that if Europe would be properly organised, it would be a manageable crisis”.
“We say no to mandatory quotas”.
Germany, the main destination for many migrants, supports quotas. Hungary has also made a similar argument.
Beyond the lofty rhetoric, Juncker outlined policy responses.
These steps would speed up the process of individual asylum applications from individuals coming from countries considered to be safe across Europe.
Tiny Greek tourist islands have been overwhelmed by the crush of those making the sea voyage from Turkey, and scenes of desperation unfold daily at chokepoints like Hungary’s border with Serbia. Nations such as Albania, Kosovo, Serbia and Bosnia should be added to this, it said.
Nearly 50,000 people from Kosovo applied for asylum in the European Union in the first three months of this year.
Numerous migrants say they want to go on to Sweden, Norway or Finland, because they have relatives there or believe that conditions for asylum-seekers are better.
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The European Commission would unveil a major new plan for legal migration to the EU in early 2016, in a bid to stem the number of refugees braving danger to come to the continent, he said.
