Tusk says vital to stop squabbling within the EU

Romania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary – the last of which has been strongly chided for its treatment of incoming refugees – all voted against the proposal.

But after Tuesday’s bitter vote, it was unclear how much common ground remained among leaders.

He said any attempt to impose such a scheme could end in “big ridicule” for the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, and for governments that supported the idea.

“In this sense, Europe’s external border is still not defended and the migrants breaking worldwide agreements continue to come through Greece“, he said. Germany expects up to one million asylum-seekers this year alone.

“A first step has been taken, but we are still far from where we should be”.

And it won’t be the last meeting of its kind.

The source said one plan is to block any freight coming from Croatia and even stop all imports from the country.

“We will soon realize that the emperor has no clothes”.

Priority is being given to Iraqis, Syrians, and Eritreans, and the transfer of individual applicants is guaranteed within two months of applying. Of the 120,000 spots approved Tuesday, only 66,000 were immediately assigned to countries, and the rest are to be assigned later.

However, many leaders and the European Union officials organising the summit – which will not take formal legal decisions – are keen to put the row over “relocation” behind them for now.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said he would appeal to the EU’s top court rather than accept the “diktat” from Brussels.

Germany, Greece and Italy are also under scrutiny over how they return migrants denied asylum, although no details were given. Hungary has argued that the Turkish-Greek border is a key transit country for migrants, and has called on the European Union to focus its resources there.

The number of asylum seekers has been on the rise in the past weeks, with Hungary seeing thousands of refugees arriving to the country daily.

“I planned to open the border… but now I won’t”, said Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic. He said Hungary’s leaders looked forward to discussing the “real causes” of the crisis Wednesday, adding that solutions include reestablishing border controls and improving the refugee camps closer to Syria. As of August 31, Finland had received more than 7,000 applications for asylum, according to the Finnish Immigration Service.

Mrs Merkel vowed to speed up asylum procedures in Germany.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, center right, listens to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, center left, as they arrive for an emergency EU heads of state summit on the migrant crisis at the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday, September 23, 2015.

Nor was it immediately clear how European Union policymakers would take into account the refugees’ own preferences. More assistance will be offered in exchange for reinforced cooperation. Many refugees also want to be reunited with family members who already live in Europe. He hoped to quickly travel onward to the Netherlands.

Ahead of the decision, the United Nations refugee agency had pushed hard for action, saying that any further delays would create an even more risky situation for the streams of people fleeing the Syrian conflict. “That is taking responsibility, that is solidarity”, he said on a visit to London.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny also warned that the refugee crisis had the potential to divide Europe.

French officials say a teenage migrant from east Africa was struck and killed by a freight train as he tried to make the risky crossing from northern France to Britain through the Channel Tunnel. “Normally we don’t inform the public or the press about this, but we had to show it this time”.