European foreign ministers to meet amid migrant quota row

PanARMENIAN.Net - The foreign ministers of four Central European nations are to meet their counterparts from Germany and current EU presidency holder Luxembourg, amid a growing row over migrant quotas, according to BBC News.

The Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia reject quotas proposed by the EU Commission and backed by Germany. The talks in Prague are expected to focus on this issue.

The Commission wants 120,000 additional asylum seekers per year to be shared out between 28 members. This would be a sharp increase from the current 40,000.

In recent weeks, tens of thousands of migrants have been desperately trying to flee conflicts in countries like Syria and Libya. Many of them travel through Hungary to Germany, Austria and Sweden - wealthier EU nations with more liberal asylum laws.

The Central European nations - the so-called Visegrad-four - have all rejected the proposed compulsory quotas. This is despite the fact that each of them would take in far fewer refugees than Germany if the EU backs the proposals.

Hungary in particular has become a key point on the journey north for the migrants, with more than 150,000 people arriving this year. The authorities in Hungary have been told to expect 40,000 more migrants by next week.