Greece in the Middle as Europe Is Divided on Refugee Issue

As European Union lawmakers have backed a plan to distribute 120,000 refugees among member countries, Greece is in the middle receiving accusations from Hungary for not guarding European borders.
The fast-track measure of distributing the refugees is aimed at relieving migration pressure on Greece, Italy and Hungary.
EU interior ministers will meet on Tuesday in Brussels to approve the plan as several Eastern European nations oppose the measure.
The refugee-sharing scheme drawn up by the European Commission was approved in an emergency vote by 372 ballots in favor, 124 against and 54 abstentions.
Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans said the refugee emergency challenges Europe “on a political level, on a humanitarian level and I would even say on a moral level.”
Hungary accuses Greece for not taking measures to prevent migrant influx
The Hungarian government has accused Athens for not taking all necessary steps to prevent the migrant influx, thus causing problems to fellow EU countries.
The Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Athens has responded to the accusations. Spokesperson Constantinos Koutras commented that the behavior of Hungarian authorities towards the refugees – even babies – who are experiencing the drama and misery of war, is “unacceptable.”
Koutras stressed that “the use of violence, patrols with machine guns and pushing innocent war victims into Balkan minefields do not constitute behavior that belongs to a member state of the European Union.”
The foreign ministry spokesman also said that Greece has done everything humanly possible to tackle the “unprecedented refugee crisis” and added that this crisis requires “humanity, cooperation, solidarity and coordination with the European partners”.
Bulgaria sends troops to border with Turkey
Bulgaria is sending more soldiers along its border with Turkey in order to avoid refugee influx that has overwhelmed its neighbors, according to Reuters.
Defense Minister Nikolay Nenchev commented on public BNR radio on Wednesday: “There is a change in the situation in the past few days and it is hard to predict where the refugee wave will head… so we are standing ready.”
Bulgaria may send up to 1,000 soldiers to back up border police if needed, Nechev said. The measure is taken since hundreds of refugees are waiting near the Turkish border with Greece, which is also very close to the Bulgarian-Turkish border.
Reportedly, the refugees — who are Syrian mostly — tried to approach the Bulgarian border but were discouraged when they saw they were heavily guarded and retreated back to Turkey.