German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged the EU to agree to a proportional distribution of refugees with no limits on actual numbers, going much further than plans unveiled by the European Commission.
Germany's Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said Europe should stop looking on helplessly as "murder" rages on in Syria, as he called on the bloc to review its strategy on the conflict.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban defended Hungarian police against accusations of maltreating refugees, saying the migrants had "rebelled" against Hungarian law.
Chancellor Angela Merkel won a hero's welcome as she visited a Berlin migrant centre, with Syrians cheering and taking selfies as Germany threw open its doors to thousands of refugees.
Around 450,000 refugees have arrived in Germany so far this year, including 37,000 in the first eight days of September, Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel told parliament.
Hundreds of migrants broke through police lines in Hungary near the Serbian border for a third day running, as the army began mobilising for a possible role in guarding the frontier.
A first group of around 50 refugees arrived in France from Germany as Paris tries to ease pressure on its neighbour, which has received the bulk of the migrants streaming into Europe.
EU president Donald Tusk urged a crackdown on the "murderers" among human traffickers who have killed scores of people trying to reach Europe from conflicts abroad.
Australia's hardline policy on asylum-seekers is under pressure as public sympathy for Syrians escaping conflict swells in a nation built on migration.
The Greek island of Lesbos is "on the verge of explosion" with violence erupting as the more than 15,000 mainly Syrian refugees push local resources to the limit.
Germany readied for hundreds more refugees to arrive from Hungary via Austria, a day after thousands were greeted, often by volunteers holding signs that read "Welcome to Germany".
"According to the Hungarian government, there will be free buses to take you to the last town before the border," shouts a man urgently in Arabic through a megaphone.
Pope Francis thanked American nuns in a television special to be aired Friday, defusing tensions that arose after an investigation under the previous pontiff accused them of promoting "radical feminist themes"
Britain promised to take in thousands more Syrian refugees and give 100 million pounds in extra aid, as their plight raised pressure on European leaders.
