PoliceHungary intercepts migrants at Roszke, near the border with Serbia, on September 16. (Photo: Reuters/VNA)

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier argued that a vote should be held among European Union (EU) member states on a migrant distribution plan, whereby if a majority of countries approve, those that refuse should also be responsible for accepting migrants.

Mr. Steinmeier emphasized that Germany, Austria, Sweden, and Italy should not be the only countries bearing the brunt of the migrant crisis.

According to him, this is not the way to demonstrate European solidarity, and if there is no other way, the EU should hold a majority vote.

Under the majority voting system, binding decisions must be implemented if 55% of the countries, representing 65% of the total EU population, agree.

This idea runs counter to the EU's tradition of always striving for compromise and consensus on policies.

Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Lithuania have opposed the idea of ​​allocating migrants to EU member states based on quotas.

This is also the reason why the EU Interior Ministers' meeting on September 14th failed to reach an agreement on the allocation of the 120,000 new migrants.

In a related development concerning migration, Switzerland announced it will accept between 4,000 and 5,000 migrants who have arrived in the EU from war-torn countries such as Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

The Swiss Federal Government is expected to discuss the plan and submit it to the EU on September 22nd in a move aimed at sharing the burden of migrants with Greece, Italy, and Hungary.

Swiss President Simonetta Sommaruga stated that there is no single national solution to the migration problem, but rather a Europe-wide solution is needed.

Agreeing to accept migrants represents a significant shift in Switzerland's stance, as the federal government has until now avoided discussing the issue, especially given that Swiss voters last year agreed to restrict immigration from Europe, despite the free movement agreement the country has signed with the EU.

In addition, the Swiss government will also discuss the possibility of allocating 50-100 million francs for humanitarian aid to conflict-ridden countries Iraq and Syria through non-governmental organizations (NGOs) operating in the country.

According to VN+