German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier threatened legal action on Saturday against EU countries that refused to accept refugees under the bloc’s quota programme.
German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier threatened legal action on Saturday against EU countries that refused to accept refugees under the bloc’s quota programme.
Mr Steinmeier said in an interview with German weekly Der Spiegel that “if it cannot be done otherwise, things will be resolved through the appropriate legal channels”, adding that “Europe is a community of law”. The German minister spoke specifically of Slovakia and Hungary, which have both made their own threats of legal action against the controversial quota system.
Slovakia said in November that it would complain against the EU quota plan to distribute 160,000 refugees and migrants across the bloc.
Few migrants have entered Slovakia on their voyage to western Europe, and even fewer asylum seekers have chosen to stay. EU expects Bratislava to take in 2,300 migrants.
“European solidarity is not a one-way street,” Mr Steinmeier said. “Those who refuse (to welcome refugees) must know what is at stake for them: Open borders in Europe”.
