Germany will send thousands of rejected asylum applicants back to the Balkans in the coming months as Berlin toughens its stance on economic migrants in the face of a refugee crisis.
European Union and Balkan leaders struggled Sunday to reduce tensions over how to tackle the migrant crisis as Slovenia warned the bloc will "start falling apart" if it fails to take concrete action within weeks.
European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker backed Angela Merkel's welcoming stance towards migrants ahead of a mini-summit of leaders this weekend aimed at tackling record arrivals.
European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker chided EU member states for not respecting their pledges of humanitarian aid to tackle the migrant crisis, saying "urgency" was needed.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said more should have been done to tackle the "root causes" of the worst refugee and migrant crisis since World War II.
The UN Security Council will vote on Friday on a draft resolution authorizing European military action against migrant smugglers in the high seas off Libya's coast.
Dubbed "the princess of migrants", a Nigerian baby born on the Italian ship that rescued her mother in the Mediterranean has become a symbol of hope for those braving the perilous crossing in search of a new life.
Traffic through the Channel Tunnel connecting Britain and France was suspended after around 100 migrants entered the French side of the tunnel complex, the company operating it said in a statement.
The huge influx of migrants into Europe is being used by some foreign leaders to weaken the European Union politically, EU president Donald Tusk said Friday in Poland.
Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban warned at the United Nations that Europe will be "destabilized" if the mass flows of migrants and refugees continue unabated.
Slovakia's leftist Prime Minister Robert Fico said he would rather risk infringing EU rules than implement mandatory refugee quotas adopted by the bloc.
Four eastern EU states opposed to fixed migrant quotas across the bloc said they were "absolutely dedicated" to reaching an agreement with western partners on solving Europe's worst migrant crisis.