EU looks to African nations, border control to stop migrants

should be intensified,” the leaders said.

Well over 1 million migrants entered Europe in 2015, most of them Syrians and Iraqis fleeing conflicts in their homelands. The number of arrivals dropped significantly after the EU struck a deal with Turkey to stem the influx.

Turkey was offered at least 3 billion euros ($3.4 billion) in aid for Syrian refugees in exchange for efforts to prevent migrants from leaving for Europe. The EU wants to reproduce the model elsewhere.

The EU leaders also called for an improvement in external border surveillance, without going into details.

One reason the EU has looked outside for solutions is the refusal by some member countries to accept refugee quotas or to share the job of hosting the newcomers, the majority of whom arrive via a handful of southern European nations.

Mediterranean countries such as Greece, Italy and more recently Spain have complained of being abandoned to manage the influx alone. Tensions over how best to handle migrant arrivals — which pale in comparison to the number of refugees fleeing to Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan — have fueled support for far-right parties in Europe.

“We can’t just say that a country with a border on the sea is suddenly the only one responsible” for migrants, Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel said. “The problem is European, and the solution should be a European one as well.”

Amid the standoff over quotas, momentum is gathering for countries to pay more money — to destination countries like Greece and Italy, for example, or for development aid to countries of origin — instead of hosting refugees.

“We’re recommending that instead of mandatory quotas that we go the way of solidarity. This means that each country will provide a contribution where it is possible and where it makes sense,” Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, said.

European Parliament President Antonio Tajani said such a strategy might work.

“It’s possible, no refugees but more money,” Tajani told reporters, adding that it must be substantial funds, “not nothing, not peanuts.”