Ruling comes amid rising tensions between the EU’s Western and Eastern members over whether the bloc has the authority to resettle refugees
The European Union’s top court on Wednesday ruled that Hungary and Slovakia must admit migrants as part of a refugee relocation program, a significant victory for Brussels that resurfaces deep disagreements over immigration policy within the bloc.
The ruling comes amid rising tensions between the EU’s Western and Eastern members over whether the bloc has the authority to resettle refugees in countries whose politicians have called for refugee bans, an issue which has roiled politics across the region since a major influx of people two summers ago.
In Hungary, a senior official said the government wouldn’t accept the ruling. The prime minister and his cabinet were in a meeting immediately after the news broke to discuss legal and political options to oppose it.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban has consistently rejected the idea of refugee quotas and instead asked the EU to contribute to a border fence his government erected to prevent migrants from entering the country. European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker in an interview with the German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung on Wednesday rejected that request and said Hungary must show solidarity with other nations in dealing with the refugee burden.
“ECJ confirms relocation scheme valid. Time to work in unity and implement solidarity in full,” tweeted EU migration…