Merkel urges EU �solidarity� on migrants

AFP, BRUSSELS: EU leaders meet Thursday to try to persuade Turkey to help stem the flow of refugees towards Europe, with German chancellor Angela Merkel saying it was “unacceptable” that the short sea crossing to Greece was being controlled by people smugglers. “We cannot organise or stem the refugee movements without working with Turkey,” Merkel declared just ahead of a summit in Brussels as she urged Europe to stand together in the face of its worst migrant crisis since World War II. “Europe needs to show solidarity, anything else would be a failure,” warned Merkel, who travels to Turkey this weekend. As leaders gathered, the Greek coastguard said it had rescued more than 800 people in the Aegean Sea in the past 24 hours trying to cross from Turkey.
Meanwhile, Croatia said more than 4,800 migrants had entered the EU member state on Wednesday, bringing the overall number of arrivals to nearly 175,000. The Brussels summit will focus on securing Turkey’s agreement to a plan to halt the flood of humanity seeking refuge from war and upheaval across the Middle East and North Africa, with almost 600,000 people arriving in Europe so far this year. Leaders will discuss a possible safe zone that Turkey wants to establish on its border with war-torn Syria, where many EU countries suspect Ankara has its own agenda. The situation is made more complicated by the fact Turkey—which has itself taken in more than two million refugees—is a long-standing EU candidate member but accession talks have stalled over its human rights record.

Merkel urges EU �solidarity� on migrants

AFP, BRUSSELS: EU leaders meet Thursday to try to persuade Turkey to help stem the flow of refugees towards Europe, with German chancellor Angela Merkel saying it was unacceptable that the short sea crossing to Greece was being controlled by people smugglers. We cannot organise or stem the refugee movements without working with Turkey, Merkel declared just ahead of a summit in Brussels as she urged Europe to stand together in the face of its worst migrant crisis since World War II. Europe needs to show solidarity, anything else would be a failure, warned Merkel, who travels to Turkey this weekend. As leaders gathered, the Greek coastguard said it had rescued more than 800 people in the Aegean Sea in the past 24 hours trying to cross from Turkey. Meanwhile, Croatia said more than 4,800 migrants had entered the EU member state on Wednesday, bringing the overall number of arrivals to nearly 175,000. The Brussels summit will focus on securing Turkeys agreement to a plan to halt the flood of humanity seeking refuge from war and upheaval across the Middle East and North Africa, with almost 600,000 people arriving in Europe so far this year. Leaders will discuss a possible safe zone that Turkey wants to establish on its border with war-torn Syria, where many EU countries suspect Ankara has its own agenda. The situation is made more complicated by the fact Turkeywhich has itself taken in more than two million refugeesis a long-standing EU candidate member but accession talks have stalled over its human rights record.