As migrants continue to flow into Europe, interior ministers are debating a controversial plan to redistribute 120-thousand refugees across the
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As migrants continue to flow into Europe, interior ministers are debating a controversial plan to redistribute 120-thousand refugees across the 28-nation bloc.
Central and Eastern European countries are staunch opponents. The Czech Republic said today that it will reject the proposals.
“There is a text on the table, on which there should be a consensus. We want to reach the stage of relocating 120,000, that’s the main objective,” said Jean Asselborn, Luxembourg Minister for Immigration and Asylum, ahead of the meeting in Brussels.
The migrant influx has overwhelmed the EU’s southern states and sparked furious rows over border controls.
“We must be clear, we have to control the flow. We cannot properly welcome people, if we send out the signal that we can accommodate everyone right now,” said Bernard Cazeneuve, French Interior Minister.
The interior minister meeting comes a day before leaders gather in Brussels for an emergency summit, with tightening borders and ramping up aid set to dominate the agenda.
Speaking from Brussels, euronews correspondent Sandor Zsiros said: “If the ministers agree on the relocations, it will open the way for EU state and government heads to discuss external border control and help for the Middle East countries facing the biggest migration pressures.”