German MP Peter Altmaier and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier issued stated that an aversion to accepting refugees could come at a high cost in veiled warnings to eastern EU members on Saturday. Steinmeier said that EU solidarity was “not a one-way street” in reference to treaty commitments signed by members of the 28-nation bloc and pointed to the possibility of taking recourse at the European Court of Justice “if it can’t be done any other way” in an interview with German magazine Der Spiegel on Saturday.

Steinmeier said – in veiled warnings to eastern members – that the EU is a community based on law, hence legal action though “not pleasant is sometimes necessary”.

On his part, Altmaier – responsible for co-ordinating Germany’s handling of the 1 mln asylum seekers expected to enter the country – opted for a friendly approach in his interview with Munic-based news magazine “Focus”. He said that eastern European countries need to recognize that modern countries that want to prevail amid globalization cannot ingnore migration.