Germany: President Gauck urges EU politicians to 'deal with' refugee crisis

German President Joachim Gauck urged Europe's politicians to deal with the ongoing refugee crisis during a meeting of the Arraiolos group in Erfurt, Tuesday. During the meeting Gauck discussed several issues that have arisen from the influx of refugees into Europe. "The question is how we can protect those who seek protection. But we must ask ourselves as well how we are going to secure our external borders. And we need to ask ourselves, and do so even more intensively than before, what we can in order to improve the situation in the countries of origin of the refugees," the German president stated. Gauck made clear that "politics must find answers to these questions" and expressed the "urgent wish that our governments, who meet in Brussels today and tomorrow, can agree how Europe will deal with that challenge." Explaining the reasons for why European politicians must find solutions immediately, the German president said that "Europe's residents are concerned, although perhaps to different degrees, about so many refugees who are seeking shelter in Europe." The Arraiolos group consists of the non-executive presidents of the European Union (EU) member states. The group holds an informal convention once a year to discuss the challenges facing the EU.