Splits within the EU on the
relocation of 120,000 migrants have been further exposed as leaders
begin an emergency meeting in Brussels.
Slovakia is launching a legal challenge to mandatory quotas that were passed in a majority vote on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Hungary's prime minister has proposed a radical budgetary revamp to raise funds.
The summit will focus on tightening EU borders and aiding neighbours of Syria, from where many migrants come. Migrant crisis: Latest updates
Draft proposals seen by the BBC, that are being discussed at the summit, include:
donating at least €1bn (£700m, $1.1bn) to UN aid agencies to help Syrian refugees
sending more staff to shore up Europe's external borders and in the western Balkans, through which many migrants pass
giving more support to Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan and other countries neighbouring Syria
European Council President Donald Tusk called for "a concrete
plan" to secure the EU's external borders, "in place of the arguments
and the chaos we have witnessed in the past weeks".
As she arrived
at the summit, Lithuania's President Dalia Grybauskaite said it was
"not a lack of European unity, but a lack of European wisdom" that had
led to this point.
Media captionMatthew Price: "The relief that you see on their faces is just astonishing"
On arriving, British Prime Minister David Cameron said the UK would be giving another £100m ($152m) to help Syrian refugees, including £40m towards the World Food Programme.
"We need to do more to stabilise the countries and the regions from which these people are coming," he said.
The
UK has opted against taking part in the relocation scheme and has its
own plan to resettle migrants directly from Syrian refugee camps.
The
scale of the problem was highlighted again on Wednesday when Croatia
revealed that 44,000 migrants - including 8,750 on Tuesday - had arrived
there since Hungary completed a fence along its border with Serbia last
week. Analysis: Chris Morris, BBC Europe correspondent
As
thousands of people continue to arrive on European shores, EU leaders
are trying to focus on longer term solutions, to try to stem the flow.
The
EU can't ignore the divisions and disagreements that have emerged in
the last few weeks between member states that have different ideas about
how this crisis should be confronted.
One EU official said there was a need to clean up the bad blood around the table.
Progress
may be made this evening, but it will take years of political
engagement to make a significant difference. And there will be more
bumps in the road. Relocation deal explained Hungary proposes its own deal Why central Europe says 'No' One young Syrian's story On Tuesday, in a rare move for an issue involving national sovereignty, EU interior ministers approved the resettlement scheme by majority vote rather than unanimous approval.
The
deal will see thousands of migrants moved from Italy and Greece to
other EU countries. A proposal to take 54,000 migrants from Hungary was
dropped. Image copyrightReutersImage caption
Croatia says 44,000 migrants have arrived since last week
The plan's opponents have lashed out.
On Wednesday, Slovakia announced a
legal challenge - PM Robert Fico said a charge would be filed at the
European Court of Justice, adding that Slovakia would not implement the
rule
Czech President Milos Zeman said on Tuesday that "only the future will show what a mistake this was"
However, Czech PM Bohuslav Sobotka said on Wednesday it would
not launch a court challenge, adding: "Europe must not fall apart on the
migration crisis."
Romania said it could manage its allocation but President Klaus Iohannis insisted mandatory quotas were not the answer. Image copyrightAFPImage caption
Close to 480,000 migrants have arrived in Europe by sea this year
The UN has warned that the relocation alone would not be enough to stabilise the situation.
Close
to 480,000 migrants have arrived in Europe by sea this year, and are
now reaching European shores at a rate of nearly 6,000 a day.
Austrian police told the BBC at least 7,000 people arrived from Hungary on Wednesday.
Who are the 120,000?
All are migrants "in clear need of international protection" to be resettled from Italy and Greece to other EU member states
15,600 from Italy, 50,400 from Greece
in the first year, and a further 54,000 from those countries later
dependent on the situation
Initial screening of asylum applicants carried out in Greece and Italy
Syrians, Eritreans, Iraqis prioritised
Financial penalty of 0.002% of GDP for those member countries refusing to accept relocated migrants
Relocation to accepting countries depends on size of economy and population, average number of asylum applications
Transfer of individual applicants within two months
A note on terminology:
The BBC uses the term migrant to refer to all people on the move who
have yet to complete the legal process of claiming asylum. This group
includes people fleeing war-torn countries such as Syria, who are likely
to be granted refugee status, as well as people who are seeking jobs
and better lives, who governments are likely to rule are economic
migrants.
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