ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) – U.S. Vice President Joe Biden is attending a summit of southeast European leaders on Wednesday that focuses on tensions and security concerns over a surge of asylum-seekers and migrants crossing the region.
Biden’s trip comes amid a debate in the U.S. about whether to admit Syrian refugees following the Islamic State group’s attack in Paris.
U.S. administration officials say security and humanitarian constraints are concerns for the European leaders, with up to 5,000 migrants reaching Europe each day over the so-called Balkan migrant route.
The refugee crisis is stoking tensions among the countries on the so-called Balkan migrant corridor – Greece, Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia.
The stakes were further raised amid fears that the masses of refugees crossing into Europe mostly from the Middle East could be infiltrated by Islamic extremists. At least two of the militants involved in the Nov. 13 Paris attacks had passed through Greece, apparently posing as migrants.