Hungary's Rejection Of Migrant Quota Brings EU Solidarity Into Doubt - ICMPD

The refusal of Hungary to accept migrants under the EU quota places the bloc's solidarity under question, Violeta Wagner from the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) international organization told Sputnik on the sidelines of the Migration and International Law conference.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th September, 2018) The refusal of Hungary to accept migrants under the EU quota places the bloc's solidarity under question, Violeta Wagner from the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) international organization told Sputnik on the sidelines of the Migration and International Law conference.

Last week, the European Parliament voted to proceed with disciplinary action against Hungary under Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union. The report prepared by the parliament earlier this year said Budapest was at "clear risk of a serious breach of EU values." Depending on the results of future proceedings under Article 7, the country may have some of its membership rights suspended.

"I think the problem is with solidarity. I think the entire solidarity mechanism should be reviewed by the European Union, and solidarity in terms of different things because the European Union provides a lot of things to Hungary and other countries in central Europe, and these countries should also show solidarity in such issues as migration," Wagner, who serves as senior project manager at ICMPD, said.

Hungary as well as other countries of the Visegrad Four, namely the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia, have been reluctant to accept migrants despite their membership in the European Union.

In accordance with the quotas on migrant redistribution across EU countries, each EU state is expected to take in a certain number of refugees. The system has been the source of a conflict in the bloc as several countries were unwilling to meet the requirements.