EU's Tusk calls for at least 100,000 refugees to be redistributed

BRUSSELS - Reuters

Migrants sit on a track at the Keleti (East) railway station in Budapest, before boarding a local train heading to the Hungarian-Austrian border at the on September 3, 2015, after authorities re-opened the station to refugees. AFP Photo

European Union countries should sharply increase offers to share out asylum seekers across the bloc to relocate at least 100,000 and should set up refugee reception centres outside Europe, European Council President Donald Tusk said on Sept.3.

"Fair distribution of at least 100,000 refugees among EU states is what we need to do," Tusk, who chairs summits of EU leaders, told a joint news conference in Brussels with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. 

EU countries have so far committed to share about 32,000 asylum seekers from Italy and Greece, a number short of a European Commission proposal of 40,000. A new proposal from the EU executive is expected next week. 

Tusk called for refugees' reception centres to be built close to war zones and "outside Europe, where refugee camps already exist" and also said EU leaders should be ready at a summit next month to commit much more money to the migration crisis.