Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven is ready to impose sanctions on EU countries that oppose the reception of refugees, such as Hungary.
"Yes, I am ready to do this," Löfven said in an interview with the daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter, addressing the possibility of sanctions. "Because sooner or later we have to take joint responsibility for receiving migrants. One, two or three countries cannot bear it, we need to help with this."
"If they are not ready to take responsibility, then it will come at a cost, it will not be possible to receive EU funds in the same way as today," Löfven continued. "Hungary is one of the countries that gets the most. It is unacceptable that the country that received the most support from the EU said: 'No, we do not take responsibility for immigration'."
Löfven stressed his readiness to put his foot down and stressed that several other countries are prepared to follow suit.
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Finally, Löfven expressed hope that the EU will be able to work out a common immigration policy, which clearly isn't the case now.
Löfven has long urged for the fair distribution of migrants, calling on fellow EU members to pull their weight. Several East European nations, such as Poland and Hungary, have rejected the notion that they must receive asylum seekers from other EU countries.
During Europe's migrant crisis, Sweden emerged as one of the most generous EU countries. In 2015 alone, during the peak of the crisis, a record 163,000 asylum seekers arrived in Sweden, a nation of 10 million. Following this record, the highest per capita in Europe, Sweden has been taking in over 20,000 asylum seekers per year.
Hungary, a similar-sized country, has effectively opposed non-white immigration, which has landed Budapest on a collision course with Brussels. While over a quarter of the Swedish population have an immigrant background, Hungary remains 93 percent Hungarian.
