Pressure is mounting on Eastern European countries to open their borders and accept the proposed quota for re-settling refugees.
.@TimmermansEU: @EU_Commission & @Europarl_EN can now say to member states & @EUCouncil: "The moment to act is now" http://t.co/MKJyfU09XE
— European Commission (@EU_Commission) September 17, 2015
German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere has said:
"We need to talk about ways of exerting pressure. These are often countries that receive a lot of structural funds from the European Union. We should talk about [them] getting less money from the structural funds."
Also weighing into the 'no refugees, no money' debate is Germany’s economy minister Sigmar Gabriel who told newspaper Bild:
"Europe is a community of values based on human sympathy and solidarity. And those that don't share our values can’t count on our money over time."
But with images arising from Eastern European countries of refugees being penned in and fed like animals, hit with batons and blasted by water cannons and tear gas, while razor wire fences are erected across country borders — values of "human empathy and solidarity" appear non-existent among countries in the European Union.
Hungary is racing to complete another razor wire fence on its border with Croatia – it has already reinforced its borders with Serbia with a four meter high wall and more police.
Officers wearing riot gear used tear gas and water canon on people trying to break through, receiving shock and condemnation from the UN’s Refugee Agency.
Refugee Quotas Rejected
More than 13,000 refugees are expected to cross into Slovenia by any means possible from Croatia where more than 5,500 have arrived in the last 24 hours. Local media are reporting that refugees are using buses and taxis and wading through water to cross the border into Slovenia after those traveling on trains were turned back by the authorities.
Czech Republic has agreed to accept refugees but maintains its stance on refusing the EU’s proposed quota system. Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka told Hosodarske Noviny:
"Hundreds of thousands of refugees are on the move. One of the reasons why we reject the quotas is that we don’t want it to end by approving a classic bureaucratic solution and then say 'it is alright now'."
Meanwhile Czech police and military officials are carrying out drills on its border with Austria in preparation for a possible influx of refugees and migrants who have been forced to take a longer route through Croatia and Slovenia to reach Western Europe and the Schengen Area.
