Berlin backs cutting EU funds to states that refuse refugee quotas

Germany said Tuesday it approves of using EU aid funds to pressure member states into accepting binding quotas to relocate 120,000 refugees, after several eastern countries refused the migrant distribution proposal.

"The negotiations situation is such that nothing happens to countries which refuse. We need to talk about ways of exerting pressure. These are often countries that receive a lot of structural funds from the European Union," German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere told ZDF.

European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker "has suggested that we should look at whether these countries should get less structural funds, which I agree with," he added.