Malta

Can the European Union (EU) solve its crisis with the Syrian refugees without the help of Turkey?

If the answer was affirmative, there would be no EU delegations shuttling between Brussels and Ankara at a pace that nobody has seen for the last five years.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras visits Malta to attend the Valletta Summit which will focus on action for migration.

He is expected to reiterate his position that the refugee crisis must be dealt with as a joint European problem and not as one that concerns only the country of entry.

European and African leaders will meet in Malta to enhance collaboration on the migration flow. Europe is expected to offer countries in Africa billions of euros in exchange for help with the migrant crisis.

EU Commissioner for Migration Dimitris Avramopoulos said the aim of the summit in Malta on Wednesday was to “enhance collaboration” with African countries.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an discussed climate change in a video-conference call on Nov. 6, according to the world body.

The call focused on how to achieve a successful outcome at next month's climate change conference in Paris, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York.

European Union leaders will push their wary African counterparts to help tackle the migration crisis at a summit in Malta this week, offering them billions of euros in aid in exchange for cooperation.

Germany needs to be tougher in the refugee crisis and do more to help secure Europe's external borders, European Council President Donald Tusk said ahead of a meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel on Nov. 8.

While Tusk praised Germany's leadership role as the most liberal and tolerant in European history, he urged Berlin to do more to get the current situation under control. 

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an discussed climate change in a video-conference call on Nov. 6, according to the world body.

The call focused on how to achieve a successful outcome at next month's climate change conference in Paris, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York.

The refugee crisis and foreclosures were linked by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in a press conference following his meeting with EP President Martin Schulz on Wednesday. “If we are forced to offer shelter, even temporarily for refugees, then it cannot be possible for us to insist on foreclosures for primary residences in Greece,” he stressed.

Turkey's hotel occupancy rates saw double-digit decline in September despite a rise in local tourists during a 9-day Eid holiday, said the Turkish Touristic Hotels and Investors Association (TUROB) in a written statement on Oct. 30. 

Tackling unemployment and migration are for many Europeans the biggest challenges facing the EU, according to the latest Eurobarometer opinion poll commissioned by Parliament.