Prague, Budapest, Warsaw Have 30 Days to Explain Refusal to Accept Migrants

BRUSSELS (Sputnik) — The European Commission is sending on Wednesday formal letters to the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary as part of a procedure that could lead to sanctions against the three countries in connection with their refusal to accept refugees, expecting a response within a month, the EU body said Wednesday.

"As announced yesterday in the 13th report on relocation and resettlement, since no action has yet been taken by the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland to meet their legal obligations, the Commission has decided today to launch infringement procedures and address letters of formal notice to these three Member States," the European Commission said in a statement, adding the countries now have one month to respond to the arguments.

The procedure was launched due to the fact that Hungary had not taken no action since the relocation scheme started, Poland had not relocated anyone and not pledged since December 2015, and the Czech Republic had not relocated anyone since August 2016 and not made any new pledges for over a year, the Commission said.

If the European Commission concludes that the member state is failing to fulfill its obligations under EU law, it may then send a formal request to comply with EU law, calling on the state to inform the Commission of the measures taken to comply within a specified period. If a EU member state fails to ensure compliance with EU law, the Commission may then decide to refer the member state to the Court of Justice.

In September 2015, the heads of the Internal Affairs Ministries of EU member states decided to resettle 120,000 asylum seekers that arrived to Italy and Greece to 23 out of 28 countries of the bloc, in addition to the previously agreed upon 40,000 people with a specific quota for each member state.