BERLIN (Sputnik) — Heads of state and government gathered in Brussels earlier in the day for a European Council meeting for discussions that included refugee quotas.
"All the heads of government, who oppose the [quotas] are here today. These are the representatives of the neighboring countries – Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Now, Hungary has suddenly announced that they do not know whether they will play the same game. These are, of course, the Baltic states… The fair distribution [of migrant quotas] affects at least 10 heads of government," Faymann told reporters.
According to Faymann, countries that oppose migrant quotas, cite their slow economic growth and high unemployment rate among reason to abstain from the decree.
The European Commission’s proposal envisaging EU member state acceptance of migrants based on national quotas was suggested in April. The bloc is struggling with how to deal with the rapid influx of refugees crossing the Mediterranean Sea to escape economic hardship and warfare at home.
Refugee intake quotas would be calculated using a member state's population, unemployment rate, gross domestic product, and the number of documented migrants currently residing in a country.
The plan, proposed in May, stipulates distributing 20,000 refugees among EU countries over two years, in addition to the 40,000 refugees currently within EU borders.
