BERLIN — Germany on Friday failed to persuade Hungary and three other central European partners to accept joint EU action and a quota to distribute migrants from the Middle East.
The German foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, using blunt language that indicated Berlin might be losing patience, called the crisis “the greatest challenge the European Union has faced in its history.”
Up to 40,000 people might arrive this weekend, he said — double the total warmly welcomed in an outpouring of emotion last Saturday and Sunday. The new figures came as questions mounted about the wisdom of throwing open the borders last weekend, in a humanitarian gesture that was described as a one-time offer, but which appears to have encouraged more asylum-seekers to join the migrant trail.
In an indication that the government was troubled about maintaining control, Ursula von der Leyen, Germany’s defense minister, announced that 4,000 troops were on standby — a measure more often used to preserve order in natural disasters.
Steinmeier stressed that Germany now expects 800,000 migrants to arrive this year, and added, “None of these will be taken in by others, so I ask for understanding, that we discuss not only those who are already here, but a fair quota of distribution of those who are still on the way.”
His statement during talks in Prague with Hungarian, Czech, Slovak and Polish counterparts suggested that neither he nor the foreign minister of Luxembourg, which holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union, persuaded the former Communist countries, which have not been immigrant destinations, to adopt quotas to house 160,000 migrants as suggested this week by the European Commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker.
The Prague talks were held in anticipation of a meeting Monday of European interior ministers to discuss the Juncker proposals, and there were indications Friday that heads of state and government might have to hold a summit meeting if no progress is made then.
The United Nations on Friday gave qualified support to the Juncker plan. It “would go a long way” toward addressing the crisis, William Spindler, a spokesman for the U.N. refugee agency, told reporters in Geneva, but he added that it was still insufficient.
“Our estimates indicate even higher needs,” Spindler said, “but the focus must now be on ensuring all member states take part in this initiative, and that it is swiftly implemented.”