Germany, Austria call for special EU summit on refugee crisis

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and visiting Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann said on Tuesday they had proposed a special EU summit to discuss the current refugee crisis.

Speaking at a press conference after their talks here, the two leaders said they had called for a refugee summit in the coming week during a joint telephone conversation with European Council President Donald Tusk.

The special meeting of heads of state and government of the 28 European Union member states, according to Merkel, should focus on issues including better support for the countries of origin, a more intensive dialogue with Turkey as well as rapid establishment of so-called "hotspots" for registration and distribution of refugees.

Merkel stressed Europe did not have much time left to make decisions in light of the surging flow of refugees.

Faced with a swell in migrant numbers, Germany took the drastic measure of reinstating border controls on Sunday to slow the influx.

Austria also announced it would strengthen border checks following Germany's decision. Faymann said on Monday that his country would send 2,200 troops to its borders to help police control the situation.

"We were in a situation that registration was no longer possible given the large numbers of refugees. And I believe, also for safety reasons, it is understandable that we must again return to an orderly regime and mechanism," Merkel told reporters on Tuesday when defending the introduction of border checks.

For his part, Faymann praised Germany's decision to receive large numbers of refugees over the past weeks. He also underlined the need to find a more orderly way of handling refugees entering Europe. Endit