Romanian police have questioned five men suspected of being part of an illegal people trafficking ring which smuggled people from the border with Moldova to Romania's western border with Hungary. The head of Germany's domestic intelligence agency says he is concerned Islamic extremists already in the country might succeed in recruiting newly-arrived refugees to their cause, but he has seen no evidence that extremist groups are attempting to infiltrate Europe by hiding among the wave of newcomers. Koenders says the European Union, whose leaders are meeting Wednesday in Brussels to try to hammer out a united front in tackling the migrant crisis, should talk to the Lebanese authorities, "because that country knows not only the problems but also the region." The chairman of the European Union's emergency migration talks is optimistic that a deal will be sealed later in the day to share 120,000 refugees in Greece, Italy and perhaps Hungary among other EU countries. German Chancellor Angela Merkel says Europe can only get a long-term grip on the refugee crisis by tackling what is causing people to flee other nations — not by building fences. Merkel said the European Union needs to send "signals of order" in the crisis, for example by working with Turkey to secure its external border, but it's also necessary to address broader issues such as the aid shortfall that is prompting Syrians to leave surrounding countries. Merkel said after meeting her Finnish counterpart: "We are learning in this refugee situation that we are all connected to each other and our lives are affected if terrible things happen elsewhere." The crisis has strained diplomatic relations in the region, which has become a transit route for migrants bound for Western Europe. About 100 men, women and children found dry spaces in the Victoria Square metro station Tuesday, while another roughly 400 people, mostly Afghans, remained in the square, huddling in tents or using rubbish bin liners and plastic bags to keep off the worst of the rain. Hungary's foreign minister says political relations with fellow European Union neighbor Croatia are at a "freezing point" and may improve only after parliamentary elections there expected by the end of the year. Szijjarto says while Hungary had done everything possible to register 230,000 migrants this year, it had failed in some cases because of the aggressive behavior of some migrants and EU rules making it hard to enforce registration. Norway's Justice Minister has asked the country's police to "intensify" border controls to "prevent illegal immigration and combat organized crime." In recent weeks, some 2,000 people have sought asylum in Norway which is not an European Union member, but is part of the Schengen agreement allowing travel without internal border checks in Europe. Denmark's intelligence agency doesn't believe Islamic radicals are trying to use the migration flow and Europe's passport-free Schengen travel zone to smuggle "terrorists" into the West. Serbia's prime minister has given the European Union a deadline to persuade Croatia to resume all cargo traffic that was halted after a surge of migrants over their mutual border or he says that Belgrade will respond with unspecified retaliatory measures. Czech Interior Minister Milan Chovanec, who has disputed the legality of the quota system, said at a Prague airport before leaving for Brussels that "it's an empty political gesture." A resolution approved by legislators from Prime Minister Viktor Orban's Fidesz party and its Christian Democrat allies, says Hungary "cannot allow illegal migrants to endanger the workplaces and social security of the Hungarian people." The lawmakers said it was irresponsible for European politicians to encourage migrants to risk death for a better life in Europe and called on EU leaders to "return to the road of common sense" and protect Europe and it citizens. Norway's foreign minister warns that the refugee crisis will continue and could get worse if no political solution is found to end Syria's civil war. Borge Brende told reporters after meeting his Lebanese counterpart Gibran Bassil in Beirut that Norway has an agreement with the U.N. refugee agency to receive "a substantial amount of refugees in the three coming years — in fact 7 percent of all the refugees that the UNHCR has asked for." The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development warned in a report that record numbers of migrant arrivals in Europe are an "emergency situation" and there is "little hope" that it will ease soon. The OECD called on its 34 member countries, which include the U.S. and most of Europe, to "constantly" adjust immigration policies to take into account shifts such as war in Syria and political collapse in Libya, which have driven many people to seek refuge in Europe. The group recommends language and other training, and access to health care for migrants to improve their economic contribution. The U.N. refugee agency is calling on the European Union to agree this week to take in another 120,000 migrants "for any relocation program to be credible." Croatia set up a migrant reception operation to try to bring order to the unrelenting chaos that has gripped the country since Sept. 15, when Hungary closed its border with Serbia.
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