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EU leaders move to slow migrant arrivals, provide shelter

 
A man and a baby arrive Sunday at the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos. Officials said Greece over the past week experienced an average of about 9,600 migrants per day.
A man and a baby arrive Sunday at the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos. Officials said Greece over the past week experienced an average of about 9,600 migrants per day.
Published Oct. 26, 2015

BRUSSELS — European and Balkan leaders agreed on measures early today to slow the movement of tens of thousands whose flight from war and poverty has overwhelmed border guards and reception centers and heightened tension among nations along the route to the European Union's heartland.

In a statement to paper over deep divisions about how to handle the crisis, the leaders committed to bolster the borders of Greece as it struggles to cope with the wave of refugees from Syria and beyond that cross over through Turkey.

The leaders decided that reception capacities should be boosted in Greece and along the Balkans migration route to shelter 100,000 more people as winter looms.

They also agreed to expand border operations and make full use of biometric data like fingerprints as they register and screen migrants before deciding whether to grant them asylum or send them home.

"The immediate imperative is to provide shelter," European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said after chairing the mini-summit of 11 regional leaders in Brussels. "It cannot be that in the Europe of 2015, people are left to fend for themselves, sleeping in fields."

Nearly 250,000 people have passed through the Balkans since mid September.

Croatia said 11,500 people entered its territory Saturday, the highest tally in a single day since Hungary put up a fence and refugees started moving sideways into Croatia a month ago.

Many are headed northwest to Austria, Germany and Scandinavia where they hope to find a home.

"This is one of the greatest litmus tests that Europe has ever faced," German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters after the summit. "Europe has to demonstrate that it is a continent of values and of solidarity.

"We will need to take further steps in order to get through this."

Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar said his small Alpine nation was being overwhelmed by the refugees — with 60,000 arriving in the past 10 days — and was not receiving enough help from its EU partners.

He put the challenge in simple terms: If no fresh approach is forthcoming "in the next few days and weeks, I do believe that the European Union and Europe as a whole will start to fall apart."

The leaders agreed to dispatch 400 border guards to Slovenia as a short-term measure.

The country that many say is a key source of the flow — Turkey — was not invited to the summit, and some leaders said that little could be done without its involvement.