The European Union has temporarily exempted five member states from taking in migrants, Polish Radio reported.
Poland, Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic and Estonia have been exempted from the so-called “solidarity system”. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán expressed his indignation that his country was not included and declared “the beginning of an uprising”.
The decision to exclude EU countries from the “solidarity system” was approved by EU interior ministers at a meeting in Brussels on December 8.
In 2024, the EU adopted the Treaty on Migration and Asylum. Its main element is the solidarity system, which provides for the redistribution of migratory pressure between EU member states.
According to this document, EU member states must either accept refugees from countries experiencing migratory pressure or pay 20,000 euros for each person not accepted.
The treaty will enter into force in mid-2026.