Eastern Europe Minsters Warn Britain over Migrant Rights

Eastern European foreign ministers warned Friday that British plans to restrict migrants' rights to unemployment benefits could damage the European Union.

The foreign ministers of Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia said free movement was a "cornerstone" of EU integration, dismissing British fears that migrants from the region could be a drain on resources.

British Prime Minister David Cameron on Wednesday announced plans to cut EU migrants' rights to unemployment benefits in response to concerns about an expected influx of Romanian and Bulgarian workers.

"Free movement of persons is a cornerstone of EU integration -- an indispensable functional building block of a truly integrated single market," the ministers said in a joint statement.

"Selective application of these core freedoms by member states would lead to the erosion of the single market."

Cameron has been under pressure at home to act ahead of the January 1 lifting of restrictions imposed on Bulgarian and Romanian workers when those countries joined the EU.

But the move sparked an angry reaction abroad with EU jobs commissioner Laszlo Andor calling it an "unfortunate over-reaction" and deploring British "hysteria" over the issue.

On Thursday, Bulgaria also hit back, calling the British government's plans "frankly discriminatory".

In their Friday statement, the four ministers said that far from being a burden on society, migrants "contribute to the UK national revenues far in excess of the social benefits they use".

"Available data show that migrants from central and eastern Europe to the UK have been hugely beneficial for the British economy. They are younger and economically more active than the average British workforce," they said.

The ministers also urged Britain to make sure any measures it takes were compatible with EU law.