BRUSSELS (Sputnik) — The European Commission does not "fight" against the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary, subjected to its recently initiated infringement proceedings over the countries' refusal to accept refugees under the EU quota system, but rather follows the current rules, Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Wednesday.
"I do not fight against the three countries that you named, I am not aggressively inclined. I follow the rules. I warned them, they did not believe me," Juncker told reporters in response to whether the European Commission is ready to launch full-fledged sanctions against the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary.
On June 14, the European Commission launched infringement proceedings over the refusal of the Czech, Polish and Hungarian governments to comply with their obligations under 2015 agreement to relocate refugees from Italy and Greece across the EU. The letters of formal notice have been forwarded to the three states, with a response due within 30 days.
The Czech Republic claimed that it would not yield to external pressure, but rather decide as a sovereign state on whom to take in on its territory.
Hungary, in turn, declared its readiness to take its case to the European Court of Justice, convinced that the agreement on refugees relocation contradicts the norms of the European Union.
