Refugee crisis: Apocalyptic message overshadows talks as EU leaders struggle to find agreement
"European leaders meeting for emergency talks in Brussels have lashed out at each other over how to deal with this year’s influx of refugees, amid warnings that the continued uncertainty could threaten the European Union itself.
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The leaders were meeting nine days after Hungary sealed its southern border with Croatia, pushing thousands of refugees into Slovenia. In the past week, more than 62,000 migrants have arrived in Slovenia. Croatia, said 11,500 people crossed into the country on Saturday. An estimated 250,000 refugees have passed through the Balkans since mid-September.
The summit gathered the leaders of eight EU countries (Germany, Hungary, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Romania and Slovenia) and three from outside the bloc (Macedonia, Albania and Serbia). While they agreed to co-operate more in managing the flow of refugees from the Middle East to Europe, they failed to approve immediate, concrete measures to help to resolve the crisis.
The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, said the EU should ensure “that the people who are wandering about and living under unbearable conditions receive help”. She added that all the countries bordering the refugee route through the Balkans were all signatories to the Geneva Convention on refugees."
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/refugee-crisis-eu-leaders-struggle-to-find-agreement-on-how-to-handle-influx-amid-warnings-over-a6708531.html
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Clearly, the refugee crisis is testing the moral underpinnings of the European Union. I can't help but feel that one "concrete measure" to help resolve the crisis NOT addressed is this -- INSIST ON PEACE TALKS NOW. The European Union nations should all be insisting on compromise and serious peace talks to end the war in Syria, the major source of the refugee exodus. Until that happens, all other efforts are like applying band-aids to life threatening wounds.
