EU’s top court: Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary broke EU law over refugee quotas

The Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland violated EU law by refusing to take in asylum-seekers at the height of the refugee crisis in 2015, the European Union’s top court ruled on Thursday.

By refusing to comply with the provisional and time-limited mechanism for the mandatory relocation of applicants for international protection, the three countries failed to fulfil their obligations under EU law, the court ruled.

The court said the three member states had no right to cite safeguarding internal security or claim that the relocation program was dysfunctional, in refusing to comply.

The Luxembourg-based Court of Justice dealt with the case on the grounds of a complaint by the European Commission.