Prime Minister Viktor Orban says Hungary will bring lawsuit against European Commission over refugee quotas

The quotas will distribute 120,000 refugees across the European Union's 28 members

A group of migrants cross the border before Hungarian soldiers closed the border between Hungary and Croatia in Zakany in October (ATTILA KISBENEDEK/AFP/Getty Images)

The Prime Minister of Hungary has said the country will be taking legal action against the European Commission over its mandatory refugee quotas.

Viktor Orban said the lawsuit, which is against plans to distribute 120,000 refugees across the bloc’s 28 members, would be filed on Thursday at the European Court of Justice.

“Hungary will today submit to the European court its appeal against the decision of the European Commission about the mandatory settlement of people, migrants in Hungarian territory,” he told a forum.

The quotas have been met with opposition from other countries including Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Under the plans, Hungary will reportedly receive fewer than 1,300 people. Receiving the largest share, of around 17,000, will be Germany.

Mr Orban earlier said the quotas were “illegal, unreasonable and unfair”, adding that Brussels had overstepped its authority by approving the scheme.

The legal action comes after he claimed the European Union planned to resettle between 400,000 and 500,000 Syrian refugees from Turkey on Wednesday.

“The issue (of resettlement) will be a hot potato in the coming period because even though this could be kept in a semi-secret state… someone somewhere – I think in Berlin this week – will announce that 4-500,000 Syrian refugees could be brought straight from Turkey to the EU.”

“This nasty surprise still awaits Europeans,” he said, adding the agreement had been discussed at a recent EU summit in Malta but were dropped due to lack of support.

Slovakia filed a complaint against the EU quotas on Wednesday, according to Prime Minister Robert Fico.

Additional reporting by agencies