The European Union has announced legal proceedings against Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic in a move that threatens to deepen the EU’s east-west divide over migration policy.

The move against the three eastern member states by the European Commission came after they refused to accept any migrants as part of an EU-wide relocation plan for 160,000 migrants.

In a statement, the European Commission said it was launching the cases after “repeated calls” on the three to pledge to accept the migrant quotas, all of which had been ignored.  “Against this background ... the Commission has decided to launch infringement procedures against these three Member States,” it said.

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"There are no winners in this spat over the re-location policy," added Agata Gostynska-Jakubowska, eastern EU expect at the Centre for European Reform, the London think-tank, predicting that case could ultimately reach the European Court of Justice.

It could also cause richer EU member states to threaten to cut funds to recalcitrant eastern states when the next budget came up for negotiation in 2020, risking a further backlash against the European Commission. 

"The public will almost certainly see its actions as an attack on the countries’ sovereignty. Governments will probably reinforce this perception by their domestic narrative," she added. Read the article 

Read also Czech PM Sobotka's comments.