Slovakia is refusing to accept Muslims as part of its refugee quota because it does not have any mosques.
As a member of the European Union, the country is to host 200 migrants from the Middle East under a plan to redistribute 40,000 away from Italy and Greece, where most first reach the continent via boat.
The Slovakian government said it planned to ask the migrants their religion on arrival.
“We want to help Europe with the migration issue. We could take 800 Muslims but we don’t have any mosques in Slovakia so how can Muslims be integrated if they are not going to like it here?” interior ministry spokesman Ivan Metik said, according to the Wall Street Journal.
An EU source told the The Telegraph, while it is legal to prioritise Christians who are at extra risk of persecution because of their religion, turning away Muslims because there are no mosques would be discriminatory and of dubious legality.
The number of migrants registered at the EU’s borders more than tripled in July to 107,500 compared to the same month last year, according to figures released by Frontex, the EU agency.
It passed the record 100,000 in a single month for the first time since the EU’s border control agency began keeping records in 2008.
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