EU Actions Amid Refugee Crisis Not Based on Solidarity

According to a survey carried out by the UK-based Populus research and strategy consultancy exclusively for Sputnik and published earlier in the day, citizens of Western Europe are more accepting than their Eastern neighbors when it comes to the question of refugees arriving in their countries.

MOSCOW (Sputnik), Yulia Shamporova – The EU countries’ actions amid the refugee crisis have not been based on solidarity, the director of European affairs for the German human rights organization PRO ASYL told Sputnik.

"Politicians have to show that they are able to cope with refugee crisis. EU member-states' acts are not based on unity and solidarity… This is a shame for one of the richest regions in the world," Karl Kopp, who is also a board member of the European Council on Refugees and Exiles, said.

Kopp called for a clear plan and a common solidarity-based approach to foster a more welcoming attitude towards refugees.

This year, Europe has been facing a major influx of migrants fleeing war-torn countries in the Middle East and North Africa. Over 710,000 migrants arrived in the European Union within the first nine months of 2015, according to the EU border agency Frontex.

Several European countries, including the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary have been criticized by the international community for their attitudes toward the refugee crisis.

According to the survey carried out for Sputnik, 62 percent of respondents living in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Poland oppose taking refugees in while only 26 percent support the idea.

At the same time, those in Western Europe who think their government should not let refugees enter their country amounted to 42 percent, according to the poll.