EU Parliament approves refugee-sharing plan
European Union lawmakers have backed an EU plan to distribute 120,000 refugees among member countries in a fast-track measure aimed at relieving migration pressure on Greece, Italy and Hungary.
The move in the European Parliament on Thursday means that EU interior ministers meeting in Brussels next Tuesday will be able to approve the plan if they can overcome opposition from a group of Eastern European nations.
The refugee-sharing scheme drawn up by the EUs executive Commission was approved in an emergency vote by 372 ballots in favor, 124 against and 54 abstentions.
Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans thanked the parliament and said the refugee emergency challenges Europe "on a political level, on a humanitarian level and I would even say on a moral level."
[AP]
