EU Sues Poland, Hungary And Czech Republic For Refusing To Accept Refugees
by Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge.com
Jun 14, 2017
The European Commission has launched a legal case against Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, for refusing to take in asylum seekers, escalating a bitter feud within the 28-nation bloc about how to deal with the Pandora’s box opened up Angela Merkel’s 2015 “Open Door” policy (since shut).
The reason for Brussels’ ire is that the eurosceptic governments in Poland and Hungary refused to take in anyone under a plan agreed by a majority of EU leaders in 2015 to relocate migrants from frontline states Italy and Greece to help ease their burden. The Czech Republic initially accepted 12 people but has since said it would not welcome more. It is perhaps worth noting that the three countries are among the very few who have had virtually no terrorist attacks in the past two years.
At stake in the dispute is the bloc’s unity, already tested by Britain’s unprecedented decision to leave, weak economies and higher support for eurosceptic parties across the EU. Beyond its borders, the EU is also facing what it says is a “threat” from Russia and a foundering new relationship with President Donald Trump. But two years of arm-wrestling have so far produced no results and EU leaders are unlikely to be able to break the impasse when they discuss the matter next week in Brussels, according to Reuters.
In September 2015, EU ministers took up a plan to relocate over 100,000 migrants who have already reached the continent, throughout Europe. However, not all EU states have found the measures acceptable, saying that the migrant crisis cannot be solved through obligatory quotas. The Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary have staunchly opposed the plan. Despite warnings from Brussels, Budapest is determined to tighten its policy towards asylum seekers and carry on with its own border fence plan.
It all culminated yesterday, when Europe finally took legal action against the holdout states.
“I regret to see that, despite our repeated calls to pledge to relocate, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland have not yet taken the necessary action,” the EU’s migration commissioner, Dimitris Avramopoulos, told a news conference cited by Reuters. He said the Commission was therefore launching so-called infringement procedures against the three, a way for the executive arm to take to task countries that fail to meet their obligations.
It opens the way for months, even years, of legal wrangling before a top EU court could potentially impose fines.
The Rest…HERE
