The world’s largest club of wealthy countries remains split between those that support Brussels’ initiatives focused on distributing migrants between members in an act of solidarity and those countries, like Hungary or Poland, whose far-right governments consider the influx of outsiders a threat.
European Union leaders are meeting in the Spanish city of Granada, where the migrant crisis is top of the agenda.
Hungary and Poland oppose a deal agreed by the bloc to make changes to handle irregular immigration during times of high arrivals.
It hopes to make them law before the next round of EU elections.
“There is no agreement on immigration because previously we decided that migration will be regulated on a unilaterally agreement basis, which was changed last meeting. Poland and Hungary were not satisfied with the proposal, but they pushed us through, I mean, pushed through the proposal,” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told reporters.
“So Hungary and Poland were totally left out of that. So after this, there is not any chance to have any kind of compromise and agreement on migration. Politically it’s impossible, not today, generally speaking.”
Poland’s government describes the deal as a ”diktat” from Brussels and Berlin.
The prime minister has rejected the bloc’s plans to penalise countries like Poland for refusing entry to illegal immigrants.
It comes as Italy records a spike in migrant arrivals.
Source: Euro News
