Three Balkan leaders vow to shut borders ahead of EU talks

Leader of three Balkan countries have threatened to shut their borders if their northern European Union neighbors refuse to accept refugees just ahead of an emergency summit on one of Europe’s worst refugee crisis.

The Saturday development came as premiers of Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia discussed the persisting influx of asylum seekers during a meeting in the Bulgarian capital Sofia on the eve of the emergency meeting called by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker (pictured below), who has pushed for a cross-border approach to the crisis that has brought over 670,000 refugees from Middle East and North Africa to European shores so far this year.

The continuing influx has made EU member Hungary shut down its borders with Serbia and Croatia, while Slovenia has threatened to follow suit, which could bring an end to Europe's "Schengen" system of borderless travel.

This is while Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov announced following the Sofia talks that the three countries desired a Europe-wide solution to the crisis but would not become a "buffer zone" for the tens of thousands of the newly-arriving refugees.

Borisov as well as his Serbian and Romanian counterparts further warned that if other EU nations followed Hungary's lead, they would have to take identical measures, insisting on commonly-agreed action across Europe on the crisis.

"All three countries, we are ready if Germany and Austria and other countries close their borders... we will be ready to also close our borders at that very same moment," said Borisov.

The Sunday's planned summit in Brussels will bring the leaders of Macedonia and Serbia together with the counterparts from eight EU countries on the frontline of the refugee crisis: Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Romania, and Slovenia.

This is while Juncker has reportedly drafted 16 suggestions for the summit, which includes a scheme, according to which no EU country will allow asylum seekers through to a neighboring state without first obtaining authorization from the adjoining state.

According to reports, the EU official will further suggest speeding up the expulsion of refugees who have been denied asylum and denying the right of asylum to people that do not register their request in the EU state where they first enter.

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