The EU should abandon “unrealistic” migrant relocation plan

The EU should abandon “unrealistic” migrant relocation plan

Disagreement among member states threatens the cohesion of EU, according to Austrian minister. The European Union should abandon its “unrealistic” migrant relocation plan. This is the view of the Austrian Federal Minister for European and International Affairs, Sebastian Kurz, whilst Austria's neighbour Hungary was organising a referendum on the issue last Sunday (2 October).

An overwhelming majority in the Hungarian referendum voted against mandatory refugees quotas but the turnout was only about 40 %, which was short of the 50 % threshold.

“The objective is totally unrealistic,” Kurz said speaking to the German Sunday newspaper, Welt am Sonntag (2 October).

The disagreements on this subject between EU members threaten “the cohesion of the entire European Union,” added the Minister.

He added that this was, moreover, increasing "the numbers of refugees refusing to visit some countries in the EU.”

The Austrian Minister did not give his opinion on Hungary's planned referendum, which the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, wished to turn into a plebiscite for his anti-immigrant policy, thus thumbing his nose at the European Union.

Adopted a year ago, the EU migration plan aimed to relocate 160,000 individuals recorded as arriving in Greece and Italy over two years.

To date, some 5,600 of them have been spread within the EU.


The Brussels Times


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