Turkey in spotlight as EU leaders debate refugee crisis

EU leaders will try to forge a way through the refugee crisis at their two-day summit which begins in Brussels on Thursday, though a German-led push for a longer discussion at the summit was dismissed as negotiations on an EU deal for Britain take centre stage.

While EU leaders are scheduled to discuss the migration crisis over dinner on Thursday evening, EU officials said the focus would be on steps already agreed, rather than any new substantive measures to tackle the crisis.

Nonetheless, a sub-group of countries are meeting ahead of the summit to consider a resettlement programme for refugees from Turkey. Leaders of 11 member states, together with European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker and Turkey's prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu, are scheduled to meet at the Austrian embassy in Brussels at the request of Germany's chancellor Angela Merkel and her Austrian counterpart Werner Faymann.

The focus in Brussels is continuing to rest on Turkey as the best option to tackle the continent’s refugee crisis, amid continuing divisions among member states about how best to address the issue.

But there is deepening concern that Turkey's pledge to reduce the number of refugees reaching the European Union in exchange for a €3 billion aid package and visa liberalisation agreed in November has not yet been delivered upon.

Mr Davutoglu is also scheduled to meet European Council president Donald Tusk on Thursday morning ahead of the summit. Mr Tusk is to host leaders of a number of Balkan countries for dinner on Wednesday night and meet Greece's prime minister Alexis Tsipras bilaterally in a bid to explore further support measures for the countries situated on the western Balkans migrant route.

The move by the German and Austrian chancellors to gather a sub-group of countries ahead of the summit is widely seen as a way of sidestepping opposition from central and European member states who have been vocally opposed to any relocation or resettlement scheme for refugees.

In a joint statement earlier this week, the Visegrad group of countries, comprising Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, reiterated its opposition to a permanent relocation mechanism. The group said that unless countries improved the management of the "most exposed parts of the European Union's external borders and stem the migratory flow, the situation risks deteriorating beyond our control"."

A European Commission spokeswoman said the talks at the Austrian embassy would focus on the "resettlement" of refugees based in Turkey. "It is about putting into operation a voluntary humanitarian admission scheme so that we provide a legal pathway for refugees to Europe and that we share responsibility with Turkey as a strategic partner in managing the refugee crisis."

EU leaders are also expected to hold a more broad-based discussion on Syria and Libya on Friday, should agreement on the British settlement be reached.

In recent days Ms Merkel has expressed her possible support for a no-fly zone over Syria, something the Turkish government has advocated for some time.