EU could fall apart over refugee crisis, Slovenia's prime minister warns
Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar warns that the European Union (EU) will “fall apart” if its leaders fail to agree upon a plan to stem the refugee influx.
"If we do not deliver some immediate and concrete actions on the ground in the next few days and weeks, I believe the EU and Europe as a whole will start falling apart," Cerar said on Sunday as he arrived for an emergency summit on the refugee crisis in Brussels, Belgium.
The Slovenian premier said his country was in a “very serious” situation and could not deal with the issue any longer.
He also said Slovenia “will not be able to endure this for weeks if we do not get help.”
Cerar urged Croatia to stop pushing refugees into neighboring Slovenia to reach other EU states.
Europe is facing record refugee arrivals with over 47,500 people entering Slovenia, a country whose population is only two million, over the past week. Wrestling to cope with the influx of refugees, the tiny EU state has asked Brussels for 140 million euros (USD 155 million) as well as police backup and logistical support.
Heads of eight hard-hit EU countries, namely Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Romania and Slovenia, plus the leaders of Serbia and Macedonia participated in the Sunday summit in Brussels to discuss ways of tackling the unprecedented influx of refugees into Europe.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), over 600,000 people fleeing wars, terrorism, and unrest in the Middle East and North Africa have landed on European shores so far this year following dangerous sea journeys from Turkey to Greece and across the Mediterranean Sea to Italy. More than 3,000 have died or gone missing trying to reach Europe.
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