The European Union (EU) forced through quotas for the resettlement of 120,000 refugees on Tuesday, September 22, in a qualified majority vote which enabled it to bypass a general consensus.
"The obligatory relocation will be a failure. As long as I am the head of government, the quotas will not be implemented. We are analysing all our legal options and I would rather have Slovakia impeached than accept mandatory quotas", Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico announced after the decision, announced plans to contest the decision at the Wednesday summit of EU leaders. In his words, the quotas are useless because migrants do not want to come to Slovakia.
At the meeting of EU interior ministers, only Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Romania were against the quotas. The remaining countries supported the plan and Finland abstained. Poland had a change of heart at the last minute and joined the majority.
Fico claimed that as long as he is the Slovak prime minister, mandatory quotas will not be implemented in Slovakia. As part of the solution to the migration crisis, Slovakia is offering money, personnel and, if necessary, a military presence and aid in securing the European Union's external borders.
Andrej Králik, Slovakia's European Union representative attempted to bring clarity to some points in a press release on Tuesday. Among which was the confirmed number of refugees Slovakia is expected to host in the first year. According to the EU Council Decision, at this moment Slovakia is required to accept 190 refugees relocated from Italy and 612 refugees relocated from Greece, making a total of 802 refugees.
Additionally, Mr Králik explained that Slovakia will not be forced to accept economic migrants. At present, the refugees will come from Syria, Eritrea or Iraq and Slovakia will retain the right to refuse a particular applicant if he or she is deemed a threat to national security.
Speaking at the session of the European Affairs Parliamentary Committee, Fico said that the decision made by interior ministers will significantly influence today's EU summit. "There'll be a heated debate on what just occurred", he stressed, adding that the mandatory resettlement will end in a debacle.
