EU issues ultimatum to Poland and Hungary to accept more migrants

A host of EU countries is threatening to boot Poland and Hungary out of the block if the two nations refuse to accept their quota of migrants.

Poland and Hungary have both ignored EU proposals to take in 160,000 migrants that are presently residing in Italy and Greece. Public opinion in both countries are also opposed to being forced to accept migrants from non-European cultures, Breitbart reported.

Poland and Hungary have taken in a few thousand refugees each, but they have refused to take more.

"They will have to make a choice: are they in the European system or not? You cannot blackmail the EU, unity has a price. ... We are going to be very tough on this," an EU representative was quoted as saying.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) is set to look into the legality of the quota system before the end of the year with a judgment widely expected to be in favor of the EU scheme.

"We are confident that the ECJ will confirm validation, then they [Poland and Hungary] must abide by the decision," the EU representative said, as reported by Express.

"If they don't then they will face consequences, both financial and political. No more opt-outs, there is no more 'one foot in and one foot out.' We are going to be very tough on this." the representative continued.

Hungary challenged the court, saying it is culturally and constitutionally unreasonable to coerce member states to accept asylum seekers. Poland, on the other hand, ignored criticism from the European Commission over its handling of the migrant crisis.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has stated that forcing member countries to accept a compulsory quota of migrants is unlawful and will "spread terrorism around Europe." In 2015, at the height of the migrant crisis, Orban called for Hungary's borders to be closed to refugees.

Polish Prime Minster Beata Szydlo recently criticized EU plans for a "two-speed" Europe, which would allow more powerful EU members to develop faster than their poorer neighbors.

The migrant quota system has been widely criticized for being ineffective, and some eastern EU members, including Slovakia and the Czech Republic, are waiting for the dispute between the EU and the countries Hungary and Poland to be resolved before they accept their share of migrants.