The European Union should put financial pressure on member states that oppose binding quotas for relocating thousands of refugees throughout the bloc, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said Tuesday.
The idea of financial stimulus was proposed by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, who suggested cutting financial assistance to countries like the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary, who opposed the plan, Sputnik reported.
"Nothing happens to the countries that refuse. Migrants just go through them. I think we must talk about ways to put pressure on them. These are often the countries that receive a lot of structural funds from the EU," de Maiziere said Tuesday when speaking on the German television channel ZDF.
The minister said this move could help maintain unity across the European Union on the issue of migration.
Monday’s emergency meeting of EU interior ministers failed to reach a unanimous agreement on the Commission’s proposal to relocate 120,000 mostly Syrian refugees throughout the European Union, with several Eastern European countries refusing the mandatory quotas.
