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1st LD Writethru: EU announces special summit to cope with refugee issue

Xinhua, September 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

Leaders of the European Union (EU) have been summoned to hold an extraordinary summit next Wednesday to discuss solutions to the ongoing refugee crisis, European Council President Donald Tusk said in a tweet on Thursday.

Earlier on Thursday, the European Parliament voted in support of the mandatory emergency relocation of 120,000 refugees in clear need of international protection.

Justice and home affairs ministers from EU member states will also hold an extraordinary meeting next Tuesday to try and agree on refugee relocation.

Also on Thursday, the European Commission said the objectives of EU efforts must be to help ensure a return to the normal Schengen system of open borders as soon as feasible.

It said the temporary reintroduction of border controls between member states is an exceptional possibility explicitly foreseen in and regulated by the Schengen Borders Code, in case of a serious threat to public policy or internal security.

"The EU institutions have the task to ensure the proportionality of the exceptional measures concerned. The Commission will closely monitor the situation and keep the European Parliament and the Council fully informed, as foreseen in the Schengen Borders Code," it said.

"The situation serves to further underscore the pressing need to agree on and quickly implement the measures proposed by the European Commission in order to manage the refugee crisis," the statement added.

The European Commission said it received a notification from Slovenian authorities informing about their intention to temporarily reintroduce controls at the border with Hungary, as of Thursday for an initial period of 10 days. Endit