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EU Ministers Back Quota System For Migrants

European Union ministers have voted by a majority in favour of relocating 120,000 migrants and refugees across its member states.

The quota plan is aimed at taking the pressure off countries such as Germany - the final destination for hundreds of thousands - as well as Italy and Greece where many first arrive.

However the 28-member EU remains bitterly divided over the best way to tackle the continent's worst refugee crisis since World War Two.

Four central European nations - Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia - voted against the plan while Finland abstained.

Czech interior minister Milan Chovanec said on Twitter after the Brussels meeting : "We will soon realise that the emperor has no clothes. Common sense lost today."

Prague had earlier warned that any attempt to approve such a scheme would be unworkable and could end in "big ridicule" for governments and EU authorities.

And Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said pushing through the quota system had "nonsensically" caused a deep rift over a highly sensitive issue.

He added that "as long as I am prime minister", Slovakia would not implement a quota.

Almost half a million people, fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, have made their way to Europe this year, leading to disputes between countries over border controls and how to share out the numbers responsibly.

Hundreds have died making the journey over land and by sea, many using people smugglers.

The UK will not be taking part in the reallocation scheme. It has promised to take 20,000 Syrians from refugee camps in the Middle East over the next five years. However the arrival of the first Syrians has been delayed.

EU leaders will hold an emergency summit on Wednesday where they want to focus on increasing aid for Syrian refugees in the region and tightening control of the bloc's external frontiers.

Some central European states with no tradition of integrating large numbers of Muslims are anxious about the impact on their communities.

And they want to avoid any signal that might encourage more desperate people to set sail across the Mediterranean for Europe.

But the UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, said the 120,000 figure was equivalent to the number of migrants and refugees that arrive in Europe over a 20 day-period.

:: Sky's In-Depth Look At The Migration Crisis

Arriving in Greece and Italy, refugees head north through eastern European countries such as Hungary, Croatia and Slovenia, to more affluent nations further west and north including Germany.

In the Balkans, a war of words between high-level politicians is straining relations further – with Hungary allowing the Army to use non-lethal force against those trying to cross its borders.

Under new legislation, Budapest is authorising soldiers to use rubber bullets, tear gas and grenades – and the Hungarian government insists it is respecting EU rules.

Serbia has denounced Hungary, which has erected a razor-wire fence along its border to deter migrants, for using tear gas against those trying to enter the EU member state.

Croatia has also been criticised for sending thousands of migrants and refugees to the borders it shares with Slovenia and Hungary, while also closing the road crossings it shares with Serbia.