The refugee crisis is the only subject that divides the 28 member states of the European Union and causes concern. This was proven during the past few days when the issue of the boats that roam the Mediterranean Sea in search of a European seaport has topped the agendas of frequent meetings among leaders of the bloc. Therefore, the two-day EU summit, which will take place today (Thursday) and Friday, June 29, will discuss EU’s ability to continue in the future in light of differences over the file of migration and asylum, and it will also decide whether the German government, led by Chancellor Angela Merkel, will continue. The summit chairman, Donald Tusk, said the stakes are high. He warned the leaders of the bloc that the EU has little time to prove its ability to deal with the issue of migrants. “More and more people are starting to believe that only strong-handed authority, anti-European and anti-liberal in spirit, with a tendency towards overt authoritarianism, is capable of stopping the wave of illegal migration,” Reuters quoted him as saying. “If people believe them, that only they can offer an effective solution to the migration crisis, they will also believe anything else they say,” he added. “Time is short.” To fully control the external borders, Tusk said the EU needs to be ready to make additional efforts. He proposed that the European Council endorse three initiatives, which are setting up regional disembarkation platforms outside Europe, creating in the next multi-annual EU budget a dedicated financial facility geared towards combating illegal migration and stepping up EU’s cooperation with countries of origin and transit. Tusk also said that the EU shall ensure full control over external borders. “People want this not because they have, all of a sudden, become xenophobic and want to put up walls against the rest of the world, but because it is the job of every political authority to enforce the law, to protect its territory and the border,” he stressed. Italy’s Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, for his part, said that the coming months will decide if Europe still has a future in its current form or whether the whole thing has become futile. “Its not just about the budget for the next seven years. Next year, will see new European Parliament elections. Within one year, we will see if united Europe still exists or if it doesnt,” Salvini told Der Spiegel in an interview on Wednesday.