German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said the “breathtaking” flow of migrants into her country will “occupy and change” Germany in the coming years.
Angela Merkel said Germany would speed up asylum procedures and build extra housing, but called on other EU states to help.
In the same time, President Francois Hollande said France would take 24,000 refugees and that quotas for EU states to relocate 120,000 migrants were being planned.
Meanwhile, the flow of migrants across Europe shows no sign of easing.
On September 7, large numbers of people were reported to be streaming into Hungary across its southern border with Serbia.
Spanish newspaper El Pais reported on September 7 that 120,000 migrants will be resettled under the proposals, on top of the 40,000 already agreed.
The 160,000 are said to include 66,000 who have arrived in Greece, 54,000 in Hungary and 40,000 in Italy.
Thousands of migrants who had arrived in Hungary made their way through Austria to Germany over the weekend. Those arriving at Munich station were cheered by locals.
Angela Merkel thanked volunteers who had helped and welcomed those arriving, saying they had “painted a picture of Germany which can make us proud of our country”.
However, she said that although Germany was “a country willing to take people in”, it was “time for the European Union to pull its weight”.
Germany – which expects 800,000 asylum requests this year – could face costs of €10 billion next year because of the influx, she added.
New quotas drawn up by the European Commission are set to be unveiled on September 9.
Austria is planning to phase out special measures that have allowed thousands of migrants to travel freely from Hungary to Western Europe, Chancellor Werner Faymann said.
The emergency measures for asylum seekers will be removed “step by step”, the chancellor added.
The easing of rules has meant thousands have been able to leave Hungary for Austria and Germany over the weekend.
Germany, where most of the migrants are heading, warned that its willingness to help “should not be overstretched”.
The German interior ministry said the decision to allow migrants in over recent days was an exception and that the EU’s rules requiring asylum seekers to be processed in the first country they arrived in remained valid.
Chancellor Werner Faymann issued his statement after speaking by phone with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Hungarian PM Viktor Orban on September 6.
Photo AP
“We have always said this is an emergency situation in which we must act quickly and humanely,” the Austrian chancellor said.
“We have helped more than 12,000 people in an acute situation. Now we have to move step-by-step away from emergency measures towards normality,” he added.
The change means that Austria will restore spot checks on those entering the country, as it had before the weekend.
On September 6, a group of cars driven by German and Austrian activists travelled to Hungary to pick up migrants and distribute food.
Hungarian police said anyone taking people across the border was breaking the law on people smuggling – although the activists were able to collect migrants without being stopped.
The crisis took a dramatic turn on September 4, when Hungary removed restrictions on transit and helped migrants reach the Austrian border.
On September 5, about 10,000 people travelled by bus, train and on foot to Vienna, with many continuing to Munich and other German cities.
Thousands more were allowed to travel from Hungary to Austria and Germany on September 6.
The migrants had travelled north through the Balkans – Greece, Macedonia and Serbia – before arriving at Hungary’s southern border.
Germany and Austria are expecting thousands more migrants to arrive from Hungary after Budapest government eased restrictions on their travel on September 5.
Thousands of migrants traveled to the Austrian border by bus, by train and on foot before moving on to Vienna and Munich.
Austrian officials are laying on more trains as needed.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is to hold talks with her coalition partners on a crisis that has divided the EU.
After days of confrontation and chaos, Hungary opened its borders with Austria and bussed thousands of migrants to the frontier.
Up to 10,000 arrived at the border on September 5, according to the Austrian authorities, who have said they do not plan to limit the numbers crossing into the country.
Photo Reuters
Many traveled straight on to Munich, southern Germany, where locals greeted them with applause, giving sweets to the children among the new arrivals.
They have been sent on to reception centers to be registered and receive food and clothing.
Both Germany and Hungary have said the current measures are aimed at averting a humanitarian crisis, and will not set a precedent.
The rules requiring refugees to apply for asylum in the first country they land in “are still valid, and we expect other European Union member states to stick to them”, a German government spokesman said.
Chancellor Angela Merkel has said Germany can cope with the influx of newcomers without raising taxes or jeopardizing its budget.
Germany is the key destination for arrivals on European shores, and expects to take in 800,000 people this year.
Syrians fleeing a brutal civil conflict are the largest group travelling, followed by Afghans and Eritreans.
There is little sign of a co-ordinated EU response to the crisis, despite more than 350,000 migrants having crossed the EU’s borders in 2015 alone.
Germany, backed by the European Commission, has been pushing for a quota system for dividing the people reaching Europe between member states.
However, this has been opposed by several eastern members.
On September 5, Hungary said that while it had temporarily relaxed restrictions on the transit of asylum seekers, it was pressing ahead with plans to tighten border controls and could send troops to its southern frontier if parliament agreed.
At least 10,000 migrants have arrived in Munich after an arduous journey through Hungary and Austria.
German members of the public applauded and offered sweets as some 450 migrants arrived on a special train service.
The plight of the migrants has highlighted the EU’s struggle to deal with a surge of asylum seekers.
Earlier this week there were chaotic scenes in Budapest as Hungary blocked them from travelling onwards.
Photo Getty Images
Many migrants refused to be taken to camps in Hungary to register for asylum, insisting they wanted to travel on to Germany and Austria.
Crowds broke through security lines and began walking 108 miles to the border, many with small children.
Under mounting pressure, Hungary opened its border with Austria, which expects to have received some 10,000 people by the end of the day on September 5.
Chancellor Angela Merkel has said Germany can cope with an influx of newcomers, without raising taxes or jeopardizing its budget.
Austria has also said it will not limit the number of migrants crossing its borders.
However, there is little sign of a coordinated EU response to the crisis, despite more than 350,000 migrants having crossed the EU’s borders in 2015 alone.
Germany, backed by the European Commission, has been pushing for a quota system for dividing the people reaching Europe between member states. But this has been opposed by several eastern members.
On September 5, Hungary said that while it had temporarily relaxed restrictions on the transit of asylum seekers, it was pressing ahead with plans to tighten border controls and could send troops to its southern frontier if parliament agreed.
Thousands of migrants have arrived in Austria, after Hungary’s surprise move to take them by bus to the border.
For days, Hungary had blocked them from travelling by train to northern and Western Europe.
On September 5, about 4,000 people crossed the Austrian border. They were received by the Red Cross and are now moving on towards Vienna and Germany.
Austria says the migrants, many of whom had initially fled Syria, can claim asylum there or carry on to Germany.
The move comes as EU countries are struggling to agree on how to deal with an unprecedented surge of asylum seekers.
The Hungarian government eased restrictions on transit after many frustrated migrants overwhelmed police cordons and set off towards the border on foot on September 4.
Buses began picking up migrants from Keleti train station in central Budapest, where thousands had been camped.
Vehicles were also sent to take those who had decided to walk along a motorway to Austria.
On September 5, Hungarian government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs said there would be no more buses or trains to take the migrants on to Austria.
He said the transport had been arranged as a one-off, because of fears for the migrants’ safety.
As the migrants crossed the border on foot, some Austrians displayed welcome signs.
Austrian Red Cross workers at a makeshift centre greeted them with blankets and tea.
The migrants are now being taken by train and bus from the Austrian border town of Nickelsdorf to the capital Vienna.
Many hope to travel on to Germany, which says it expects 6,000 people to arrive over the weekend.
The German government has said Syrians can apply for asylum.
Germany has said it expects to take in 800,000 people this year.
Austria’s Chancellor Werner Faymann said that after talks with his German counterpart Angela Merkel, the two countries would allow in the migrants due to the “emergency situation” in Hungary.
However, he said he expected Hungary to respect any EU quotas for asylum seekers – something Hungary, along with the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia, has rejected.
Hungary has become a major transit nation for people fleeing the Middle East and Africa, and seeking to reach north and west Europe.
The Hungarian parliament on September 4 approved tougher border controls and penalties for migrants, underlining divisions within the EU on how to tackle the crisis.
Hungary’s PM Viktor Orban has said the surge in arrivals was “Germany’s problem”, since that was where most people wanted to go.
However, Chancellor Angela Merkel has called for refugees to be fairly divided among EU members.
About 1,000 migrants stuck at Budapest’s Keleti train station for days have set off on foot, saying they intend to walk to the Austrian border.
Hungarian authorities are trying to contain thousands of people desperate to reach Western Europe.
Meanwhile, EU states are struggling to agree a common strategy to deal with the crisis.
The Hungarian, Czech, Slovakian and Polish prime ministers have rejected quotas for EU nations.
In a statement they rejected “any proposal leading to introduction of mandatory and permanent quota for solidarity measures”.
The chaotic scenes in Hungary – a main transit country for those seeking to claim asylum in Germany and other countries in northern and Western Europe – have continued for another day.
Some of the migrants who had been waiting days at Keleti train station grew frustrated with the lack of international trains, and decided to walk to Austria – a distance of 110 miles.
Hungarian police seem to be escorting but not stopping them.
Some of those walking have been holding large photographs of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Under EU regulations, anyone wishing to seek asylum must do so in the first EU country they reach.
However, many of those who have arrived in Hungary do not wish to be registered there because it is more likely to send migrants back, and has a relatively small population and economy.
They want to continue on to seek asylum in Germany and other richer countries.
Hungary’s PM Viktor Orban warned on September 4 of “the end of Europe”.
“Today we are talking about tens of thousands but next year we will be talking about millions and this has no end,” Viktor Orban said.
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