Europe has taken on responsibility for refugees: Hollande

European Union ministers have agreed to resettle 120,000 refugees between the 28 member states of the bloc

Europe has taken on responsibility for refugees, French President Francois Hollande said in London after EU interior ministers agreed on today to relocate 120,000 refugees around the bloc.

"Europe has taken on its responsibilities. It has been able to do this but with conditions and with rules, and that is what France has called for," Hollande told reporters.

He spoke after European Union ministers agreed to resettle 120,000 refugees between the 28 member states of the bloc.

Europe had been struggling to coordinate a response to an unprecedented influx of migrants and refugees from war-torn countries such as Syria.

"Couldn't we manage 120,000 in a continent with 450 million people? We will show that we can do this, and at the same time have rules. That is taking responsibility, that is solidarity," Hollande added.

The plan was bitterly opposed by the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia, who insist that the European Commission should not have the right to make them take in people seeking refuge.

Hollande's comes after the first refugees from war-torn Syria accepted under a resettle programme arrived in Britain, which is exempt from EU asylum and migration policy.