MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The European Union requires assistance from the United States to the settle the refugee crisis, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday.
“One might think, the European Union can cope with the crisis without US assistance, but that does not sound realistic,” Merkel said, as quoted by Sueddeutsche Zeitung.
According to Merkel, the United States could take more refugees from Syria, help to improve the living conditions in the refugee camps in Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey and work to eliminate the causes that prompt people to flee their home countries in the first place.
Europe is dealing with a large-scale refugee crisis. Over 500,000 migrants have entered the European Union since the beginning of 2015, according to European Commission estimates.
Earlier in September, US Secretary of State John Kerry said that the United States could accept up to 85,000 refugees in 2016.