GENEVA, Sept 4, (UNHCR) – The head of the UN refugee agency António Guterres, emphasizing the European Union faced a “defining moment”, has laid out a set of key guidelines which he says should underpin all efforts to resolve the current refugee and migration crisis facing Europe.

Guterres said the biggest influx of refugees into Europe for decades required a “massive common effort” and break with the current fragmented approach which has led Europe overall to fail to find an effective common response.

“Europe cannot go on responding to this crisis with a piecemeal or incremental approach. No country can do it alone, and no country can refuse to do its part,” he said in a statement issued ahead of a key round of EU meetings on the crisis. “Exceptional circumstances require an exceptional response. Business as usual will not solve the problem.”