Photo by: Reuters
European Union (EU) leaders will hold a special summit next week on Europe's migration crisis, EU President Donald Tusk said on Thursday, as Croatian leaders warned that their country might become overwhelmed by a rerouted wave of refugees.
The summit will be held on Wednesday, Tusk wrote on Twitter.
Several leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, had been pushing for crisis talks by EU leaders. The bloc has been struggling with strained resources and tensions over how best to handle Europe's biggest influx of refugees and migrants since World War II.
Tusk said he will be visiting a refugee camp as part of visits to Egypt and Jordan this weekend and will share his "findings" with EU leaders at the special summit.
His statements came amid shifting migration flows in Europe.
Thousands are on their way to the European Union in Macedonia and Serbia, expected to look for passage through Croatia and Slovenia en route to Western Europe after the previous main gateway, Hungary, on Tuesday sealed its border to migrants.
In a statement at noon on Thursday, Croatian police said 6 200 people were registered after crossing the border with Serbia over the previous day and a half.
Health Minister Sinisa Varga estimated that 20 000 people might arrive at Croatia's border over the next two weeks.
"We will be constructive and cooperative, but our capabilities ... are limited," Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic warned after meeting Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann in Zagreb. "There are limits to our capacity. After that, I don't know whether we can document all the people."