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France’s President Francois Hollande has announced his country will take in 24,000 refugees over the next two years, while it is understood Germany will take 31,000 additional people under a European plan which is strongly opposed by Hungary.

The figure revealed by the French leader yesterday represents France’s share of a European proposal to relocate 120,000 refugees. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker is due to unveil new proposals tomorrow.

EU officials have said Juncker will propose adding 120,000 people to be relocated on top of a group of 40,000 the commission previously proposed relocating.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told a gathering of foreign ambassadors yesterday, however, that the plan could not be discussed while the EU’s outer borders were not secured.

“Our problem is with the timing. As long as we can’t defend Europe’s outer borders, it’s not worth talking about how many people we can take in,” he said.

“What does that solve if we divide up 100,000 people, while in the meantime millions are coming?”

If they want to continue on from Hungary, it’s not because they’re in danger, it’s because they want something else.

The Hungarian leader instead wants the EU to provide funds to Turkey to keep refugees there, explaining refugees were coming to the EU for financial gain.

“If they want to continue on from Hungary, it’s not because they’re in danger, it’s because they want something else,” he said, adding they wanted “a German life”, not physical safety.

Unchecked, the stream of refugees would place an intolerable financial burden on European countries, he said, adding that this would endanger the continent’s “Christian welfare states”.

The plan is backed by countries including Germany, Austria, and Sweden, but former Eastern Bloc countries like Hungary, have been reluctant to accept the mainly Muslim influx of refugees.

Hungary has struggled to cope with more than 150,000 refugees entering the country this year, including 50,000 in August alone with several thousands arriving each day. The vast majority of those are heading for north European countries such as Germany and Sweden.

Orban’s criticism of the EU plan came as Austria said it planned to end emergency measures that have allowed thousands of refugees to flow into the country since Saturday.

In an announcement on Sunday, Austria’s Chancellor Werner Faymann said his country would move gradually “towards normality. We’ve always said this is an emergency situation in which we must act quickly and humanely. We’ve helped more than 12,000 people in an acute situation,” Faymann said, according to the Reuters news agency.

Vienna had suspended its random border checks after photographs appeared online of a Syrian toddler lying dead on a Turkish beach. The images sparked global outcry and calls within Europe for governments to do more to help those trying to reach the European Union. — Al Jazeera