Central European countries have
reacted angrily after plans to relocate 120,000 migrants across the
continent were approved by EU interior ministers.
Under the scheme, migrants will be moved from Italy, Greece and Hungary to other EU countries.
But Romania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary voted against accepting mandatory quotas.
Czech President Milos Zeman said: "Only the future will show what a mistake this was."
The
BBC's Europe correspondent Chris Morris says it is highly unusual for
an issue like this - which involves national sovereignty - to be decided
by majority vote rather than a unanimous decision.
The scheme to
take in migrants appears on the surface to be voluntary, he says,
although countries are likely to be given little choice in the matter.
In the latest reaction:
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico says he will not accept the new terms and will not "respect this diktat of the majority"
Czech Interior Minister Milan Chovanec has tweeted: "Very soon we will realise the emperor has no clothes. Today was a defeat for common sense"
Image copyrightAFP/Getty ImagesFinland abstained from the vote. Poland, which had originally opposed the proposal, voted for it.
"We
felt that it was much better to negotiate, to negotiate all these
conditions, which for us are important," Poland's Europe minister, Rafal
Trzaskowski, told the BBC.
"We preferred to be an active member of this debate."
The scheme must now be ratified by EU leaders in Brussels on Wednesday.
Who are the 120,000?
All are migrants "in clear need of
international protection" to be resettled from Italy, Greece and Hungary
to other EU member states - Hungary will also take its share
15,600 from Italy, 50,400 from Greece, 54,000 from Hungary, though it is unclear how many are still in Hungary
Initial screening of asylum applicants carried out in Greece, Hungary and Italy
Syrians, Eritreans, Iraqis prioritised
Financial penalty of 0.002% of GDP for those member countries refusing to accept relocated migrants
Relocation to accepting countries depends on size of economy and population, average number of asylum applications
Transfer of individual applicants within two months
Under the plan, Hungary will have to take in a share of migrants. Had it not opposed the scheme, it would have been exempt.
Hungary's anti-immigration Prime Minister Viktor Orban could present his own proposals before EU leaders on Wednesday.
Media captionMark Lowen reports from one pressure point in Edirne, on the Turkey-Greece border
The UN refugee agency said the scheme would be insufficient, given the large numbers arriving in Europe.
"A
relocation programme alone, at this stage in the crisis, will not be
enough to stabilise the situation," , UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming
said.
The number of those needing relocation will probably have to be revised upwards significantly, she said.
The
UN says close to 480,000 migrants have arrived in Europe by sea this
year, and are now reaching European shores at a rate of nearly 6,000 a
day.
A crisis like no other - Chris Morris, BBC News, Brussels
Criticism
is already ringing out from countries that voted against the relocation
scheme, but under EU law they are now obliged to take part. It is
highly unusual - unprecedented, really - for a majority vote to be used
in a situation like this, which involves basic issues of national
sovereignty.
But the European Commission says it is determined to
enforce what was agreed. What's not yet clear is what will happen if
any country simply refuses to comply - and that has certainly been the
suggestion from some capitals.
Will financial sanctions be sufficient? It is another sign that this crisis is testing European unity like no other.
After the meeting, German Interior Minister Thomas
de Maiziere said: "Today is an important building block, but no more
than that."
A statement from the European Commission
said foreign ministers would now discuss reforms to the Dublin
regulation, which demands that migrants register as refugees in the
first EU country in which they arrive.
The UK has opted against
taking part in the relocation scheme and has its own plan to resettle
migrants directly from Syrian refugee camps.
A note on terminology:
The BBC uses the term migrant to refer to all people on the move who
have yet to complete the legal process of claiming asylum. This group
includes people fleeing war-torn countries such as Syria, who are likely
to be granted refugee status, as well as people who are seeking jobs
and better lives, who governments are likely to rule are economic
migrants.
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