EU nations took 12,000 refugees from 160k plan
European Union countries have only taken in around 12,000 refugees from overburdened Greece and Italy despite promising to share 160,000 almost 18 months ago.
A European Commission progress report on the refugee emergency shows that only 9,000 were relocated from Greece. Hundreds of thousands of migrants entered the country last year.
Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans said Wednesday that it is "highly urgent" for countries to live up to their pledges, with the legally binding scheme set to expire in September.
Timmermans urged countries to use "peer pressure" to force EU partners to react, but ruled out any immediate legal action against those not fulfilling requirements.
He said the Commission's March progress report will be "the moment where I draw my conclusions what next steps we could take." [AP]
