EU har advart Sveits om at landets beslutning om å innføre nye restriksjoner for innvandring fra øst- og sentraleuropeiske land er et brudd på avtalen om fri bevegelse.

Switzerland, which is not an EU country, has a special agreement that allows Swiss people to benefit from Europe’s open borders travel zone.

In return, the Swiss are supposed not to discriminate against immigrants from any EU country, with the exception of time-limited restrictions on Bulgarians and Romanians.

Until last year, Switzerland had a quota of 2,000 residency permits per year for citizens of Eastern and Central European countries, which joined the EU in 2004.

Etter at Sveits oppga kvotesystemet, har landet det siste året innvilget 6.000 oppholdstillatelser til statsborgere fra åtte land; Polen, Ungarn, Tsjekkia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia og Litauen.

Innvandring er imidlertid svært kontroversielt i Sveits, og økningen har fått regjeringen til å benytte en “sikkerhetsklausul” for å innføre nye restriksjoner.

The Visegrad Group of EU countries – the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia – have protested at a “deplorable” measure that “discriminates” against their citizens.

“We express our deep regret at the Swiss government’s decision. It undermines Switzerland’s traditional stance as an open and friendly country,” said a statement by the country’s foreign minister.

Baroness Ashton, the EU foreign minister, hinted at legal action against Switzerland by warning that it was “in breach of the agreement on the free movement of persons”.

The Telegraph: EU warns Switzerland over immigration restrictions