Tuesday, June 13th., 2017
EU Begins Infringement Procedures Against Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland
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The European Commission launched infringement procedures against the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland citing their failure to accept refugees in accordance with a 2015 plan.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The European Commission
said Tuesday it was launching infringement procedures against the Czech
Republic, Hungary and Poland over them failing to take in refugees
under the quota plan.
The
mandatory EU scheme was established in 2015 and is aimed at relocating
some refugees currently held in Greece and Italy throughout the bloc
with a specific quota for each member state.
On May 16, the European Commission issued a progress report
on relocation and resettlement, stressing that some countries,
in particular, Hungary, Poland and Austria were the only EU members that
had not relocated a single person, while the Czech Republic remained
inactive for a year.
The European Union has been struggling to manage a massive refugee crisis which escalated in 2015 with hundreds of thousands of people from the Middle East and North Africa seeking asylum in EU member states.
"Over the last months, the Commission has
repeatedly called on those Member States that have not yet relocated a
single person, or that are not pledging to relocate, to do so.
Regrettably, despite these repeated calls, the Czech Republic, Hungary
and Poland, in breach of their legal obligations stemming from the
Council Decisions and their commitments to Greece, Italy and other
Member States, have not yet taken the necessary action. Against this
background, and as indicated in the previous Relocation and Resettlement
Report, the Commission has decided to launch infringement procedures
against these three Member States," the statement read.
©
AFP 2017/ JANEK SKARZYNSKI
The European Union has been struggling to manage a massive refugee crisis which escalated in 2015 with hundreds of thousands of people from the Middle East and North Africa seeking asylum in EU member states.