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European Union interior ministers meeting in Brussels have approved a plan to relocate 120,000 refugees across Europe.
The specifics of the plan were not immediately available. The decision, however, was not reached as a consensus, but rather by a majority vote.
The Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary were among the countries that voted in opposition to the plan. They are among the Eastern Europe countries that have resisted accepting the forced resettlement of refugees on their territory.
Nearly half a million people have crossed the Mediterranean to reach Europe this year, an estimated two-fifths of them from Syria. There have been ongoing disputes between EU member nations on how to resolve the problem.
An EU-wide emergency summit will be held in Brussels on Wednesday, focusing on delivering concrete pledges of financial and other support for Turkey, Jordan and other nations housing some four million Syrian refugees, as well as for the 11 million Syrians now homeless in their own country.
Al Jazeera and wire services
Laurence Lee reports from Slovenia where many see the stop as a means to get to Austria and then Germany
Eastern European leaders opposed to quota system meet ahead of EU-wide emergency summit on Wednesday
UK remains divided on how to alleviate crisis, with fears that an influx of people will alienate voters
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