Merkel calls on EU to establish common asylum policy

German Chancellor Angela Merkel called on European Union states to establish a common asylum policy that focused on taking in people who face persecution at home, preferably in collaboration with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

"(But) we are far from that," she told a news conference.

Merkel also said Belarus' policy of letting migrants enter neighbouring Lithuania, an EU member state, was "unacceptable".