Hungary and Slovakia are taking the European Union to court over its mandatory mechanism to relocate some 160 000 asylum seekers across the bloc until 2017. Under the plan, some 2300 refugees would be relocated to Hungary and around 800 to Slovakia until then.

Slovakia filed the lawsuit was at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg on Wednesday, Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico told reporters. Following its northern neighbour’s decision, Hungary will do the same today despite earlier reports claiming that the country is planning to file the anti-refugee quota lawsuit only by 14 December. Mr. Fico said he wanted the court to rule the mandatory quotas were invalid, saying they were “nonsensical and technically impossible.”

At issue is the plan approved in September by interior ministers to relocate refugees across 26 of the 28 member countries. The UK and Denmark are not participating because of special provisions in EU treaties. Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and the Czech Republic opposed the plan, but were outvoted under the qualified majority rule, which was applied for the first time on such a divisive migration issue.

László Trócsányi, Hungary’s justice minister, revealed in mid-November that the country’s government will launch a lawsuit of “exemplary character” with the argument that the mandatory quota is in breach of member states’ sovereignty.

Around 890 000 migrants and refugees have reached Europe so far by sea this year, according to the UNCHR, the United Nations’ refugee agency.

via politico.eu and hvg.hu

photo: Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty Images