The EU summit on the refugee crisis begins reluctantly, with President of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė  saying that the agreement to be reached with Turkey would be “complex and at the limits of international law”.

Arriving at the meeting, Mrs. Grybauskaitė  told reporters that “we will agree on something. We will negotiate with the same conditions agreed last week”.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel stated that “when we talk about illegal immigration can only talk about stopping this kind of immigration,” adding that “the immigrants who enter Greece illegally must be returned to Turkey”.

She also expressed the hope that European partners would decide on a common stance.

Arriving for the European Union leaders’ summit, French President Francois Hollande said he would demand a “comprehensive” agreement on Turkey.

He also made it clear that France will not accept any agreement that did not respect the right to asylum and did not include a commitment to assist Greece.

“It is Greece that is on the EU’s external borders and hosts a large number of trapped refugees and it is [Greece] that needs financial support,” he said, noting that unless Greece were supported the situation could not be handled.

Greece is requesting a credible agreement which will reduce irregular migration flows from Turkey towards Greece, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said arriving at the EU-Turkey summit meeting.

“I’m looking forward to a credible agreement today in order to try to reduce or to stop the illegal flows from Turkey to the Greek islands but on the same time to create a robust legal way for the refugees from Turkey to the EU,” he said.

“I’m waiting today to take a decision to assist Greece in these difficult circumstances, especially in our northern borders in Idomeni where we have to face a humanitarian crisis because of the unilateral actions in the Balkan route and I think this is the shame for our common culture,” he stressed.

Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte said that there is no alternative than reaching an agreement with Turkey on migration.