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EU leaders agree to mobilise 1bn euros for UN refugee agency

24 September 2015 02:38 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. EU leaders agreed at an emergency refugee summit Thursday to boost aid for Syria's neighbours, including one billion dollars through UN agencies, as well as strengthening their borders to deal with a wave of migrants, APA reports quoting AFP.

Tensions have erupted between overstretched European nations as they face their worst refugee crisis since World War II, but the bloc's president Donald Tusk said the leaders had turned a corner during surprisingly calm talks in Brussels.

"Tonight we have a common understanding that we cannot continue like we did before," Tusk told a press conference. "It's a quite symbolic moment -- I am absolutely sure that we have stopped with this risky blaming game."

The EU leaders agreed to mobilise an additional one billion euros for the UN refugee agency and the World Food Programme to help refugees in the region around Syria, former Polish prime minister Tusk said.

Brussels would also increase help to Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan, as well as to Balkan countries on the main migrant route to the EU which have been stretched by the huge numbers of people coming through, he said.

French President Francois Hollande said his country would give 100 million euros over two years, while British Prime Minister David Cameron pledged 100 million pounds (137 million euros, $153 million).