Berlin: Obama promises Merkel to ‘contribute substantially’ to support refugees

US President Barack Obama has promised German Chancellor Angela Merkel to “substantially” support efforts to ease the refugee crisis in the Middle East and Europe, a German government spokesman said on Thursday.

 

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has called for “billions of euros” in new money to be transferred to states that border Syria, saying Europe had to realize that solving the crisis would cost “a lot more” than previously envisaged.

 

Obama and Merkel spoke by telephone on Thursday evening and the chancellor set out the goals of the planned donor conference for Syrian refugees which she will co-host in London on Feb. 4, government spokesman Steffen Seibert said.

 

“The president promised that the US government would contribute substantially,” Seibert said in a statement.

 

The spokesman added Obama and Merkel agreed that there could only be a political solution for the Syrian crisis, as well as for the stand-off in Ukraine.

 

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