Hundreds of Latvians Protest in Riga Against Refugee Intake Under EU Quota

Some 500 people reportedly took to the streets of Riga to protest against the country's acceptance of migrants under a EU quota scheme.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Some 500 people took to the streets of the Latvian capital of Riga on Tuesday to protest against the country's acceptance of migrants under a EU quota scheme, local media reported.

The protest organizers' declared goal was to draw attention to the "immigration problem" and to call on the ruling Latvian coalition to protect national interests and to prevent the imposition of mandatory quotas for the redistribution of migrants throughout the European Union.

The Latvian Delfi news outlet reported that the organizers had predicted a turnout of 100 participants, but their expectations were exceeded by a factor of five.

On Tuesday, the EU interior ministers met in Brussels to discuss the migrant crisis. In the evening, the ministers approved a plan to redistribute 120,000 refugees throughout the bloc according to a quota system, previously proposed by the European Commission.

The Latvian authorities confirmed their readiness to accept 776 refugees under the quota system.

According to European Commission statistics, over half a million refugees entered the European Union during the first seven months of 2015. The majority of whom arrived to Greece and Italy via the Mediterranean Sea.