Swedish PM Criticizes EU Members Avoiding Responsibility in Migrant Crisis

Europe is experiencing a large-scale migration crisis, as thousands of refugees attempt to cross into the bloc, fleeing violence and poverty in their home countries.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Sweden's Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said on Monday that some European Union member states were trying to avoid responsibility for addressing the refugee crisis.

"I am hopeful when I hear more and more leaders say that they want to take responsibility. But I am also concerned. There are also countries that shirk their responsibility. Hungary is one of them. All countries in the union must now decisively stand up for human dignity and do their duty at this challenging time," Lofven was quoted as saying by The Local daily.

The prime minister spoke in favor of quota system for refugee resettlement across the bloc.

"Sweden and Germany are the countries in the EU that take in the largest share of refugees and advocate a common system of binding quotas, which all EU countries must follow," Lofven noted.

Lofven who is scheduled to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday, urged the 28 European Union member states to accept 100,000 refugees.

According to the EU external border protection agency, Frontex, the number of refugees detected at EU borders between January and July stands at 340,000, three times higher than during the same period in the previous year.

In May, the European Commission called on EU member states to help host some 40,000 asylum seekers who had arrived in Italy and Greece, proposing a quota plan to relocate them throughout the bloc.