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Official defends Slovakia's lawsuit against mandatory refugee quotas

Xinhua, January 7, 2016 Adjust font size:

Slovakia's lawsuit against the Council of the European Union over mandatory refugee quotas shouldn't do any harm to Slovakia's presidency of the council in the latter half of this year, announced Slovak Parliamentary Chairman Peter Pellegrini on Thursday.

"We're not doing anything illegal here. This is allowed by the documents on which the EU rests. Colleagues from the other countries have to accept that we're acting in keeping with European legislation. I don't think it will cause a serious disruption in relationships," stressed Pellegrini.

Pellegrini maintains that it's incumbent on Slovakia to respond with a lawsuit to the way in which the quotas were adopted.

"I'd be displeased to see yet again decisions on substantial issues that require agreement passed on instead to the level of ministers, where majority outvotes minority. Larger countries mustn't get used to such decision-making, we're all equal to each other in the Union," pointed out Pellegrini.

Turning to the expected agenda of the Slovak presidency, Pellegrini said that Slovakia will probably have to come to grips with the persistent migrant crisis and the situation in Ukraine, among other issues.

"The situation in Ukraine remains unstable," added Pellegrini. Endit