EU – Baltic States, Forum, Latvia, Legislation, Society

"Many of us do not believe in binding quota systems," said Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics, whose country is hosting the informal talks in the coastal city of Jurmala.

The minister said the two-day event was not an "anti-German or anti-migration meeting."

Speaking on behalf of the Visegrad group, which comprises Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, Czech Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek said compulsory regulations could not form the basis of a collective solution.

"We need to develop something that is accepted by all partners," he said at the end of the talks, which also covered security and energy concerns.

Several nations also raised concerns about the planned expansion of the Nord Stream gas pipeline between Germany and Russia, according to Rinkevics.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto defended his country's approach to the migration crisis, saying that Hungary had "always complied with all the regulations, all the obligations and all international standards."

"Unfortunately those migrants who have marched through our country haven't done so," Szijjarto said.

Last year, Hungary became the first country on the Western Balkans route to close its borders to the stream of people heading for wealthier nations further north.

The European Union has been working to halt a migration surge that saw more than 1 million people arrive in the past year.

The NB8 group is a regional cooperation between Sweden, Finland, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.