Merkel: unilateral steps by EU states won't solve refugee crisis

By Joseph Nasr and Tina Bellon BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday that unilateral measures by European Union member states, which involve closing borders and putting a cap on asylum applications, would not solve the refugee crisis. A joint European solution is needed, she said during a news conference with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. Merkel was responding to a question about Austria's decision to cap the number of refugees and tighten border controls, which she had earlier this week described as "not helpful". "Unilateral solutions, each member state for itself, will not help us. Instead we need an overall European approach," she said. Merkel, under pressure at home to reduce the number of asylum seekers entering Germany, said Turkey had been taking steps against illegal migration to Europe but more efforts were needed. She said Germany would make sure that Turkey received scheduled aid by the European Union to cope with the more than 2 million Syrian refugees in the country. "One part of our EU-Turkey agenda was that also Europe contributes its share to improve the living situation of Syrians in Turkey and ensure that it can cope," Merkel said. "From the European side we will provide the 3 billion euros, which I again promised today," she added. Merkel wants to stem the influx by improving conditions at Syrian refugee camps in Lebanon and Jordan, distribute refugees across the EU through a quota system and giving Turkey aid in exchange for a crackdown on people smugglers responsible for the passage into Europe of many of the migrants' Both she and Davutoglu said that peace talks next week aimed at ending the war in Syria will be a key element in stemming the flow of refugees to Europe. "Turkey is doing whatever it can to stem illegal migration to Europe," Davutoglu said. "We believe the Syria peace talks that are about to begin soon are an important element that will stem the flow of migrants." Some 3,000 migrants continue to stream over the Austrian border into Germany each day. If the trend continues, Germany will have over a million more asylum seekers by the end of 2016. Some 1.1 million arrived in Germany last year, reducing Merkel's popularity and fuelling support for an anti-immigration populist party. (Additional reporting by Humeyra Pamuk and Nick Tattersall in Istanbul; Writing by Joseph Nasr; Editing by Tom Heneghan)