by Our Foreign Desk

EUROPEAN UNION leaders agreed yesterday morning to send €1 billion to agencies helping refugees at camps near their home countries and to boost Europe’s border controls.

The leaders said that task forces of European experts sent to help register and screen refugees in so-called hot spots must be fully operational in Greece, Italy and perhaps also Bulgaria by November.

Their intention is to quickly identify those eligible for refugee status and relocation into other European countries while filtering out those designated economic migrants.

“The measures we have agreed today will not end the crisis but they are all necessary steps in the right direction,” said European Council president Donald Tusk after the meeting, which lasted more than seven hours.

He added that European leaders, who have disagreed acrimoniously with one another over the refugee crisis, had finally appeared to reach agreement.

“Tonight we have a common understanding that we cannot continue like we did before,” he said, adding that the crisis will only deepen.

“It is clear that the greatest tide of refugees and migrants is yet to come, therefore we need to correct the policy of open doors and windows.”

The meeting pledged to boost support to Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan, which have borne the brunt of the crisis that has seen millions of people fleeing the fighting in Syria.

“The more money we give to address the root causes that are driving people to leave, the less likely they will be to leave their homes,” suggested German Chancellor Angela Merkel.