European leaders set to discuss migration solutions
BEIRUT — German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday said an upcoming meeting of European leaders in Brussels would be a “first exchange” toward finding solutions andagreementstoproblemsconnected with migration.
Speaking at a news conference in the Lebanese capital, she characterized Sunday’s planned emergency gathering as a “consultative and working meeting at which there will be no closing declaration.”
Merkel is visiting the Middle East amidaseriousdomestic row over migration that’s straining her ruling coalition.
Bavaria’s Christian Socialunionparty demands that some migrantsshouldbe turned back at Germany’s borders, and has given her two weeks to reach agreementwitheuropeanpartners. Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, the CSU’S leader, is threatening to go ahead unilaterally with his plans if she doesn’t — potentially threatening the governing coalition. Merkel rejects the idea of taking unilateral action.
The meeting on Sunday among leaders from a group of EU countries, led by Germany and France, is intended to thrash out possible solutions. It comes ahead of a full summit of the 28-nation EU next Thursday and Friday.
“What it’s about on Sunday is talking with particularly affected nations about all problems connected with migration — primary migration as well as secondary migration — and, following on from Sunday, seeing whether we can reach, bi-, tri- or even multinational agreements to better solve certain problems,” she said.