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[h=4]UN agencies to get $1.1B from EU[/h]Slovakia says it will try to block European Union plans to relocate 120,000 migrants and refugees from Greece, Hungary and Italy to other countries
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Paul De Grauwe, of the London School of Economics, discusses not only the moral duty of Europe to take in refugees but also what he calls a "golden opportunity" the migrant crisis presents. Bloomberg
A Syrian refugee man holding his sleeping son, rests on the ground after spending the night at a collection point in the truck parking lot of the former border station on the Austrian side of the Hungarian-Austrian border near Nickelsdorf, Austria, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2015.(Photo: Muhammed Muheisen, AP)
European Union leaders have agreed to give 1 billion euros, or $1.1 billion, to the World Food Program and the United Nations' refugee agency, the Associated Press is reporting.
The extra funds will help the organizations funnel food and housing to people fleeing conflicts.
The leaders reached the agreement during a meeting in Brussels to hammer out solutions to the current migrant crisis. It comes after EU President Donald Tusk pleaded with participants at the meeting to put differences aside and reach a solution.
The 28 leaders at the meeting "are absolutely sure that without regaining control of our external borders we have no chance to cope (with) this problem effectively," Tusk said.
Earlier, Slovakia said it would try to block European Union plans to relocate 120,000 migrants and refugees from Greece, Hungary and Italy to other countries under a mandatory quota system, as divisions grow among EU member states over how to manage the crisis.
Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico said his country will try to stop the plans, set to be approved by EU leaders Wednesday. "We will go in two directions: first one, we will file a charge at the (EU) court in Luxembourg ... secondly, we will not implement the (decision) of the interior ministers," he told reporters, according to the Guardian.
The proposal, approved by EU interior ministers Tuesday, is aimed at taking some of the burden off Greece, Hungary and Italy, where thousands of people from countries including Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan are arriving daily.
Other proposals discussed at a gathering in Brussels include sending more personnel to EU borders and increasing support to Middle Eastern countries to help them cope with the millions fleeing conflict in Syria, the Associated Press reported.
EU President Tusk urged nations to figure out a solid plan in place of the "arguments and chaos" of recent weeks.
Regarding the relocation quota proposals, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia voted against them. Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka called it a "bad decision." The rare move to overrule those countries by majority vote was perceived by them as an attack against their sovereignty. Finland abstained from the vote.
USA TODAY
Migrant crisis threatens Europe's unity
Speaking of the dissent, EU Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans said: "A decision is a decision regardless of the way you voted. The decision is legal, it's valid and it binds all member states."
If a member state doesn't respect a decision, the EU regulator can start an infringement procedure, which could see the state taken to the EU court.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said he will present a proposal for worldwide quotas for housing migrants to the EU leaders at Wednesday's meeting, the Associated Press reported.
"We should involve the whole world in the handling of this refugee crisis, migrant crisis, or as we Hungarians call it — people's migration," he said, according to the news agency.
The leaders will also discuss a wider approach to the refugee crisis at the meeting in Brussels and the need to establish a "credible" European migration policy, the European Council said. Efforts to end the war in Syria are also due to be discussed.
USA TODAY
EU ministers meet to discuss refugee crisis
European Council president Donald Tusk is urging EU leaders to donate to the World Food Program to help 11 million people in Syria and nearby countries.
Johannes Hahn, the commissioner responsible for ties with the EU's neighbors, said the EU hopes to provide more than $1.1 billion in aid to Syrian refugees and release another 1.1 billion for Turkey, where 2 million Syrians have fled, to help it deal with the crisis, the AP reported.
The United Nations refugee agency said 477,906 people have arrived in Europe by sea this year and has called for the EU to go beyond relocating 120,000 refugees, saying it expects the plan will need to be expanded.
President Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed Europe's response to the Syrian refugee crisis over the phone Tuesday.
"The two leaders agreed on the need for a Europe-wide solution in which all European member states accept their fair share of refugees," the White House said in a statement. "They also discussed how to alleviate the root causes of the refugee flow, in particular by facilitating a political transition that can unite Syrians."
USA TODAY reporter Kim Hjelmgaard is traveling the land route taken by many migrants from Lesbos, Greece, to Berlin. Follow his journey on Twitter and here:
USA TODAY
Reporter's notebook: Walking with migrants
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