The European Union is in a ‘race against time’ to stop the impending collapse of its border-free travel zone as its leaders admitted they had lost control.

Countries across Europe are poised to bring back checkpoints as one of the most senior EU officials admitted the ‘clock was ticking’ on the end of the Schengen Agreement.

Sweden slammed shut its borders warning it could no longer continue its tradition of welcoming migrants as it cannot cope with the vast numbers coming in.

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Slovenian soldiers roll out barbed wire as they block migrant routes on the border with Croatia

Migrants are escorted by police through fields towards a holding camp in the village of Dobova in Slovenia

Migrants walk to catch a bus heading to Serbia after leaving a registration centre near Gevgelija

A man and child arrive at the Skala Sikaminias village on the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos

A migrant girl looks through the fence waiting to board a train at the train station in Sid, Serbia

A major migration summit last night descended into an acrimonious farce as African leaders angrily rejected a deal to take back tens of thousands of failed asylum seekers and accused Europe of causing their problems.

It came on a day of chaos as:

European Council president Donald Tusk said it was a ‘race against time’ to save the EU’s Schengen travel zone.

Denmark said it stood ready to follow Sweden and bring back checkpoints on its border.

Slovenia began work erecting a razor-wire fence along its border with Croatia

Angela Merkel’s finance minister and close ally compared her managing of the migrant crisis to a ‘careless skier’ who triggers an ‘avalanche’

It emerged European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker had told Britain to stump up £275million to help refugees in Turkey.

Sweden's prime minister Stefan Lofven yesterday defended his decision to reintroduce passport checks, saying it was no longer possible to properly control the country's borders.

The Swedish move was seen as particularly significant as the Scandinavian country has been one of the most hospitable to migrants with the highest number per capita in any of Europe, but its officials said it is now over-stretched.

Polish Border Guard officers before leaving for Hungary to help the local police in protecting and patrolling the EU external border with Serbia

A policeman from Sweden escorts another group of migrants off a train which has crossed from Denmark

A Slovenian soldier patrols the new razoe wire fence along the country's border with Croatia yesterday

Migrants and refugees wait for a train heading to Serbia from the Greek-Macedonian border near Gevgelija

‘When our authorities tell us we cannot guarantee the security and control of our borders, we need to listen,’ Mr Lofven said.

‘We need to make sure that we have control... We have to make sure we know who is coming to Sweden.’

He called for an overhaul of the Schengen Agreement, saying the EU needed ‘to discuss what the rules should look like. We need another system. That is obvious.’

Mr Tusk said the travel zone was destined to fail without radical action to secure Europe’s external border as he became the most senior EU leader to give such a pessimistic diagnosis.

European Council president Donald Tusk said it is a 'race against time' to save the EU's Schengen travel zone

Leaders from a number of African nations were present at the conference to discuss migration with their European counterparts. Pictured left to right are Ghana's President John Dramani Mahama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande

Sweden slammed shut its borders warning it could no longer continue its tradition of welcoming migrants as it cannot cope with the vast numbers coming in. Cars arrive from Denmark at the toll and customs station at Lernacken on the Swedish side of the Oresund Strait

MALTA COMMISSIONED SCULPTURE TO SYMBOLISE 'UNITY' The summit ended in a bitter disagreement between the leaders of European and African countries. So it was unfortunate that Malta had commissioned a six tonnes marble sculpture ‘symbolising unity’ to mark the occasion. At the highest point of the capital Valletta, the monument was unveiled in front of the Auberge de Castille, the castle where the country’s prime minister is based. Despite the summit being called to help solve the migrant crisis that has seen thousands drown in the Mediterranean while fleeing poverty, the Maltese government boasted about how no expense had been spared. ‘The sculpture is made out of the finest marble from the Carrara quarries in Italy - the same quarries provided the marble for Michelangelo’s David and La Pietá,’ the prime minister’s office said. ‘The monument is a symbol of Malta’s geographic realities, a link between two continents. In the shape of a knot it will also symbolise unity between both sides.’ An extravagant sound and light show was used to welcome leaders to the meeting and delegates were presented with ‘goody bags’ filled with summit branded stationery. Maltese newspaper Malta Today described the sculpture as a ‘truly a horrible monument’ that is ‘out of place’ with the historic square where it has been located. The summit ended acrimoniously with African leaders rejecting a plan to take part tens of thousands of failed asylum seekers. Senegalese president Macky Sall used the closing press conference to take a swipe at Europe, claiming Africa would not need aid if Western multinationals paid their fair share of taxes and a fair price for natural resource. But Prime minister Joseph Muscat last night played down the lack of progress made. He said: ‘I hope we have sowed the seeds of something that can be long term.’ Advertisement

‘Let there be no doubt, the future of Schengen is at stake and time is running out,’ the former Polish prime minister said.

‘The clock is ticking, we are under pressure, we need to act fast.

‘Saving Schengen is a race against time, and we are determined to win that race.’

Mr Tusk, who chairs the meetings of all 28 EU leaders, said urgent measures needed to be implemented. ‘This includes, first and foremost, restoring external border control,’ he said.

‘Without effective border control, the Schengen rules will not survive. We must hurry, but without panic.’

Danish prime minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said he had put in contingency plans so they could bring in border controls at a moment’s notice.

ID checks: Migrants show passports from Iraqi and Syrian fellow travellers, which they have had to present in order to buy ferry tickets for their passage to Sweden at the port of Rostock, northeastern Germany

A group of migrants and refugees are aided by Swedish police as they disembark an train on the platform at the Swedish end of the Oresundbridge between Sweden and Denmark in Malmo

Control: Swedish police check vehicles arriving by ferry at the port of Trelleborg, Sweden, after the country temporarily reinstated passport checks at its borders

MERKEL INVITATION TO MIGRANTS 'WAS LIKE A CARELESS SKIER WHO TRIGGERS AN AVALANCHE' Angela Merkel was likened to a ‘careless skier’ causing an ‘avalanche’ for opening Germany’s door to refugees and migrants – by a senior figure in her own party. The claim was made by finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, a veteran heavyweight with cult status in the conservative wing of her Christian Democrats. Critics of the German Chancellor say her accommodating message in August that ‘we can do this’ – as she responded to scenes of refugees faced with border closures – has spurred migrants to pour into Germany in ever larger numbers, overwhelming local resources. Mr Schaeuble, who is one of Mrs Merkel’s closest allies – and has backed calls to stem the flow of refugees – said: ‘I don’t know if we are at the stage where the avalanche has hit the valley or whether it’s at the stage where it’s still at the upper end of the slope. ‘An avalanche can be triggered by a careless skier on the slopes who moves a bit of snow.’ Gero Neugebauer, a political scientist at Berlin’s Free University, said: ‘Merkel’s ability to impose herself has weakened, she has clearly lost authority. Merkel has her back to the wall.’ The initially enthusiastic reception given to migrants reaching Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, has cooled as local authorities increasingly struggle to house the newcomers. At the beginning of the month, the mood spilled over into violence with attacks on new arrivals. Advertisement

Officials in Slovenia yesterday said they had erected three miles of a fence it is building along its border with Croatia.

Hungary's right-wing government has already stopped all migrant coming through its territory with more than 120 miles of fence on its borders with Serbia and Croatia. Bulgaria and Greece have placed fences on their borders with Turkey.

German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble caused a row after he accused Mrs Merkel of starting an ‘avalanche’ of migration.

His comments came after Germany reversed Mrs Merkel’s decision two months ago to allow all Syrians to claim asylum there, which many claim has encouraged hundreds of thousands more to come to Europe.

‘I don't know if we are at the stage where the avalanche has hit the valley or whether it's at the stage where it's still at the upper end of the slope,’ said Mr Schaeuble, who is one of Mrs Merkel’s closest allies.

‘An avalanche can be triggered by a careless skier on the slopes who moves a bit of snow.’

A summit of European and African leaders in Valletta, Malta, yesterday ended with little agreement after a plan to deport failed African asylum seekers without passports was rejected.

The European Commission confirmed a plan to put 1.8billion euros (£1.3billion) in an aid fund for Africa, but EU countries failed to stump up a further 1.8billion euros in contributions as had been requested.

Instead they put up 78million euros – just four per cent of the target - including a 3milion euro grant from the UK.

European Parliament president Martin Schulz criticised the lack of willingness to contribute more money. He said: ‘This is the usual behaviour. If we want really to solve this, if we want future a break-through, member states need to understand.

The summit in Valletta, Malta, descended into farce after the Africans rejected the EU plan to expel those who do not qualify for asylum using special paper

‘For the saving of banks, in one night we have hundreds of millions of Euros. For saving lives, we are relatively reluctant.’

Guy Verhofstadt, president of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in the European Parliament, accused the EU of just ‘recycling’ old agreements.

JUNCKER 'TOLD UK TO PAY £275M' A pledge by David Cameron to give £275 million in aid to Turkey came after he was told to stump up the cash by Jean-Claude Juncker, it emerged last night. The Prime Minister announced that Britain would hand over the vast sum of money to be spent on the two million refugees camped in the country as he arrived at the summit in Malta on Wednesday. But yesterday it was revealed the promise came after the European Commission had privately demanded that Britain contribute that amount. Commission president Mr Juncker last night publicly announced he wanted the European Union and its 28 member states to come up with 3 billion euros (£2.1 billion) for Turkey. Documents showed the Commission had calculated Britain should put up £275 million as its share. No 10 sources last night insisted they supported the plan and believed Britain should lead by example to persuade others to contribute. They said Mr Cameron had decided on the £275 million figure and had not been led by the Commission’s demands. Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has demanded billions in cash in return for helping stem the flow of migrants into Europe. Advertisement

The former Belgian prime minister said: ‘Once again, EU leaders have let us down. The conclusions of this summit are nothing more than a recycling of measures that have been on the table for some time.

‘I fear there is now nothing that can be done to prevent a growing humanitarian catastrophe over the winter months.’

Senegalese president Macky Sall used the closing press conference to take a swipe at Europe, claiming Africa would not need aid if Western multinationals paid their fair share of taxes and a fair price for natural resource.

‘If we were to combat tax evasion, if we were to repatriate those resources, that would enable us to avoid having to call on development aid and to reimburse our debts,’ he said.

The Schengen Agreement was signed by Belgium, France, German, Luxembourg and the Netherlands in June 1985 creating a passport-free travel zone a decade later.

All 26 European countries that are part of the area have removed all check points between each other, creating a single external border.

The present-day zone covers all the EU Member States – except the UK, Ireland, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia – as well as Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, which are all outside the EU.

It has strict rules that mean police are not allowed to conduct identity checks on those going between countries if they have ‘an effect equivalent to border checks’.

Border controls can only be temporarily re-instated for a short period if this is necessary for ‘public policy or national security’ reasons.