EU ministers agree to relocate 120,000 migrants

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — European Union ministers agreed today to relocate 120,000 migrants in a move intended to ease the strain on nations like Greece and Italy which are on the frontline of the continent's overwhelming migrant crisis.

But in a sign of deep-rooted divisions among EU members, the ministers who often reach decisions by consensus had to put the plan to a vote.

Milan Chovanec, the Czech interior minister, tweeted that the proposal was approved but that the Czechs, Slovaks, Romanians and Hungarians voted against it and Finland abstained.

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve called the agreement "an important step" that was approved by a "crushing majority" of the 28 ministers present.

German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said his country would take more than 30,000 people.

"We are doing this out of solidarity and responsibility, but also in our own interest," he said. "At the moment, something like 50 percent of those who are arriving in Greece are coming to Germany. With a quota of 26 percent, fewer of this group would come."