“Juncker wants the 28 European Union countries to share the resettlement burden for 160,000 migrants with binding quotas based on national factors such as GDP and size”.
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Speaking after his State of the Union address to the European Parliament yesterday, European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said he hoped EU justice ministers “would at least be able to agree to the main points of the proposal” on Monday, but he played down the possibility of securing a common agreement.
In his first State-of-the-Union speech, Juncker urged EU states to look to historic values as Europe copes with the biggest flood of refugees since World War II, majority fleeing the conflict in Syria.
“The refugee crisis will not simply go away”, Juncker said, noting that 500,000 migrants have entered Europe this year.
“We can build walls and fences … but imagine for a second if it were you, your children in your arms …” Greece, Italy and Hungary of course are not included.
David Cameron has made clear that Britain will not participate in European Commission plans to redistribute 160,000 migrants around the continent from Italy, Greece and Hungary. Hungary was among the countries to reject it, along with the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland.
“We can not let Greece, Hungary and Italy face the refugee crisis alone”. The United Nations refugee agency warned Tuesday that 42,000 could arrive there in the next 10 days.
But German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned Wednesday that those incoming asylum-seekers must make a strong case for remaining in the country. In a separate but related development, Australia, which has been under pressure to do more to help displaced people, has announced plans to accept 12,000 more Syrian refugees from persecuted minorities.
He said tackling the crisis was “a matter of humanity and human dignity”. Ireland is also taking 520 refugees from camps outside Europe.
“The compulsory quotas are not a good solution”, Sobotka said in a statement.
These states should be aware that “solidarity is not an empty word”, Juncker stated, adding, “We are there now and we will be there if ever there is a need”.
Much of eastern Europe remains bitterly opposed to relocating migrants.
Migrant arrivals have also risen in Austria, the next stop after Hungary for those travelling along the so-called Balkan migration route from Turkey, across the Greek islands and mainland and on through Macedonia, Serbia and Hungary.
Hundreds of thousands of migrants and refugees have traveled to Europe this year, but the European Union has struggled to form a cohesive strategy for handling the influx. More than 9,000 Albanians sought asylum in July, mostly in Germany, Sweden and France.
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Juncker also called for asylum seekers to be allowed to work when their applications are being processed, in a departure from the EU’s current rules.
