Slovakia files suit against EU Council over mandatory quotas

Slovakia is suing the Council of the European Union. On Wednesday morning the government filed a lawsuit against the Council at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, demanding that the Council's ruling regarding refugee quotas be pronounced invalid, Prime Minister Robert Fico announced. According to him, Slovakia wants the court to state that the decision regarding temporary measures vis-a-vis the international protection of refugees in favour of Italy and Greece is invalid. It also requires that the council pays for the costs of the legal proceedings. One of the stated reasons for the move is that the decision of the EU Council isn't in accordance with the decisions of the European Council, made up of the presidents and prime ministers of EU-member states, who previously approved non-mandatory quotas. "We think that there has been a violation of the rights of national parliaments and the European Parliament," said Fico. Apart from that, Slovakia is challenging a majority vote by interior ministers. Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania were against the motion, while Finland abstained. According to the measure, Slovakia should accept 802 refugees within a year, and in the case of need, a further 656. According to Slovak PM Fico, the measure should have been approved by consensus, as was the case concerning a proposal of the European Commission that went through changes. The court will announce the lawsuit to the EU Council, which should respond within a few weeks. Brussels has reacted to this lawsuit by saying the quotas are legal, adding that Slovakia should respect the decision on the re-allocation of migrants through such quotas among EU members.