anchor: this is dw news from berlin. migrants pour into serbia by the thousands hope to get into the european union. in berlin, angela merkel and francois hollande to work out what to do about it. the great fall of china -- the asian tiger in a bearish freefall. how low will they go? north and south korea step back from brinksmanship will stop they have moved from saber rattling to apologies and talks on improving ties.

thank you very much for joining us. 100,000 migrants arrived in europe last month and nearly 21,000 sought refuge in greece last week alone. staggering figures in a crisis that could post a threat to european unity. the german chancellor met the french president to work on an eu response to the problem will stop -- problem. reporter: thousands of refugees have arrived in southern serbia. they are lacking basic necessities. >> we are really suffering. if i stay here two days, my baby will die. look. reporter: they all want to head further north to the european union. at the meeting in berlin, the german chancellor and the french president called for a more even

distribution of refugees and appeal to all countries to shoulder the responsibility. chancellor merkel: germany and france expect all eu member states to participate fully in processing the refugees asking for asylum. they need to be registered and have accessible places to stay and health care. president hollande: i know how important welcoming these refugees is to germany and france. it is a responsibility that cannot be left only to one country. this concerns all of europe. reporter: merkel blow -- merkel broke her silence on the outbreak of violence against refugees will stop demonstrators outside dresden clashed with the least trying to block the arrival of refugees over the weekend. the chancellor condemned the and their supporters. chancellor merkel: it is republic -- it is repugnant that neo-nazis are trying to spread

their idiotic message of hatred. it's also shameful that citizens and families with children are supporting them. reporter: merkel believes developing a coherent policy is that eu's greatest challenge. she will present a plan with france to the european commission in an effort to grapple with the hundreds of thousands of refugees making their way to this continent. reporter: let's bring in our political correspondent who has been following this story. tell us about this meeting. what was discussed and what the plan we're likely to see them resent? -- present? guest: the german and french leaders would like to push ahead with some of the things they have agreed talking about, do defining common standards for what a genuine asylum seeker is coming to europe and common measures for how they are to be treated.

burden sharing about spreading around the european union and to leaders talking about ideas like setting up registration in italy greece, where these migrants have been arriving, to either pass them on to other countries or return them to their home countries as quickly as possible. they are also talking about doing what they can to them through conditions in the region in the middle east and africa, hoping with development and him proving conditions on the ground for refugees. from countries like syria, where people are fleeing war. anchor: you mentioned burden sharing. is there a consensus on this or is this something where we might see some of the fractures in european unity? some countries are receiving the majority of these migrants and they have the

desired destination going to other countries?+ guest: there's not much political will to push forward with a genuine common asylum policy. the president of the european commission said europe needs collect his courage on this issue to get a grip on the asylum problem, the migration problem. there's not much sign of that will stop in june, leaders failed to agree, the plan to relocate 60,000 migrants at of course many more people have an arriving since then. across europe, you look at a country like written and people arriving over the last 50 years, until 25 years ago, poland was behind the iron curtain, some people have very different attitudes. anchor: and some are calling for

an urgent solution will stop thank you. you can find more in-depth coverage of the refugee crisis by logging onto dw.com/refugees will stop in addition to the refugee crisis, francois hollande and angela merkel met with the ukrainian president to look at ways to maintain the fragile cease-fire and resolve the conflict altogether. wishful thinking. the visit came on ukraine's independence day. but at the moment, there is little to celebrate. reporter: victor poroshenko would have rather bad home today. ukraine is sell -- is celebrating the 24th anniversary of independence from the soviet union, but the country's president is in berlin, a signal to the west and also to moscow. >> he's here on a very symbolic day, the day of independence.

not only would i like to give him my warmest wishes, but to all ukrainians, i know their hardships and the rights ukrainians are facing in their effort to live in true independence. germany and france want to do whatever they can to help with this. meanwhile, in eastern ukraine the fighting continues despite the cease-fire. both ukrainian forces and the pro-russian separatists regularly violate the terms of the peace accord. and there are supposed to be elections in the coming month. the french president and german chancellor both made it clear that for them there cannot be a military solution to the conflict. we have met to reassert the accord and not let it fall into+

question. it has to be the basis for our -- for all further discussion. the meeting made one thing clear -- there's a long way to go before there is a lasting agreement. anchor: it has been a to maddie they for stocks around the world as stocks sold off in a wave of sharp declines. investors are rattled about the weakness in emerging economies. the selloff began in asia where chinese stocks erased the years gains. europe was also down. in the u.s., the dow recovered it i the end of the day, but the session began with a dramatic selloff. reporter: stock market investors through the domino effect. first asian prices went south, that sent prices in europe toppling and american stocks tumbled as well, the dow jones opening a thousand points into negative territory.

the markets have been plagued by these domino crushes for two months. equities have lost 3.5 trillion value -- a .5 trillion euros in value. it's a heavy setback for many folios. the german benchmark has lost nearly 15% in only 15 days, closing below 10,000 points on monday. >> the 10,000 mark is psychologically important. investors minds go haywire as those who shut their minds during the summer wake and ask what is going on in china? the world's industrialized countries were counting on selling their goods to china. it is now the number one market for germanthe company makes 20%s profits in china. lots of firms face the same

problem and they are looking to china hoping it won't turn out so bad after all. anchor: what does all of this mean for your money is to mark we're joined in the studio by our business editor. when you look at this, you can't help but think back to 2007 and those dramatic market declines we saw. this time, is it that serious? guest: it could be, but it doesn't have to be. let's try to see it from the positive angle. stock markets have an rising steadily in the last year and we have seen central banks pumping enormous amounts of money into the markets. hence there was more revenue to be generated. we see a massive amount of money invested there and we have seen one record high after another. a correction meaning a drop in share prices -- that was likely

to happen. what is puzzling is this sharp decline when we turn to the negative side. that is what is puzzling analysts will stop the question is does it continue tomorrow or do we see sharp falls again? if we do, things may turn rather difficult rather quickly. anchor: that's a bit of an understatement. we have our reporter in new york joining us for some market reaction. what do investors in new york make of all of this? guest: for now we can say around 23% of traders believe the fed will increase rates by 25 points on september 17th. there are three major aspect of what happened today -- fears of a chinese slowdown, the

possibility of the fed hiking interest rates as soon as next month, a permanent storm that has two different views on the trading floor behind me, one that believes the u.s. market correction was necessary after six years of a alleged run, and the other one that believes a slowdown in the chinese economy with oil prices could spark a crisis like the one we saw in 1997. anchor: when we talk about a correction, we are talking about between 10% and 13%. that tends to happen from time to time. guest: that's right. shares recovered toward the end of the trading session. what do chances look like tomorrow? guest: for now, it things are going to get a little better, especially after we saw some traders and experts pointed out they had different tools the

coming weeks to put out some editors to prevent the chinese economy from slowing down. they can decrease interest rates or continuing to devalue their currency, so maybe we will see some call him after the storm after tomorrow. anchor: there is a huge debate about whether that's a good thing or a bad thing stop thank you very much for putting it into perspective for us. to some other news -- the two koreas have decided posturing for the time being. after weeks of sabr relatively -- after weeks of saber rattling, soul and pyongyang have pledged to pay -- have pledged to play nice. they have asked rest regressed -- they have expressed regret or wounding two soldiers. soul has promised to halt its across the border propaganda

broadcast. reporter: after days seemingly on the rink of war, a huge release -- a huge relief. the south and north will hold a government meeting as soon as possible in order to improve south and north relations and continue talks and negotiations in several areas. emotions ran high in both countries following tensions at the border. the hours before the announcement, south korean protesters ripped up the north korean flag. the south blamed the north for explosions in august that seriously injured two soldiers on patrol. the south use allows speakers -- the south use loudspeakers to broadcast propaganda into the north. it responded by following -- by firing shells across the border. kim jong-un issued an ultimatum -- the broadcasts had to stop. the north would strike with

missiles if the south did not comply. for three days, senior officials met in a border village. they were trying to defuse the crisis and now they have succeeded. >> just listen -- this is the sound of time passes as forest size of 25 football fields are lost, adding to greenhouse gases.

what's the sound of a tree not falling short the sound of no diversity, tourism, reliable food and water. the united nations development is listening and working with communities to protect forests for the futures we want. if you are hearing what we are hearing, find out. anchor: welcome back. turmoil on the global financial markets after more heavy losses on the markets around the world. north and south korea have wrapped that marathon talks aimed at defusing tensions. pyongyang has expressed regret for wounding two south korean soldiers last week. talks will continue on improving relations between the north and south. the migration crisis is just one of many trouble. there's a conflict in ukraine and greece has ongoing debt problems. we are asking the questions what is next for europe?

what direction should the european union beheading? you can take part in the discussion using the hash tag what next europe. we have been speaking to ordinary europeans in germany. in an exclusive survey, we asked who do you think sets europe's political direction? reporter: the european flags there's 12 stars with her many more players on the stage. the nationstates, vigor and more powerful ones like germany, and crisis hit states like greece. we asked the german people who they think sets the agenda. the survey showed 39% of germans believe that cb has the most influence. 36% say it is the european commission. 34% say germany set the agenda. surprisingly, almost 1/5 of

those surveyed say countries like greece run the show. it seems germany is very divided over who is in charge in the european union. anchor: recent crises have shown just as much division among european members. keeping 28 different languages together is a tall order, not to mention an almost impossible task. some believe further integration could solve that problem. reporter: it's go for the united states of europe. this young lady might get to see it become a reality someday, but there's no such thing. visitors can walk the length of the eu in brussels. it's a place where visitors are encouraged to imagine a european republic.

>> i see it as either we have a united states of europe that -- or our sovereignty will end up in different hands kerley. reporter: the united states of europe with brussels as it capital, jean-claude juncker as state premier and the current 28 member nations as eu federal states. not a very likely scenario. but the likely of a union of court eu states is a little different, an idea often touted by germany and france. >> we both want an economic and currency union and a political union based on integration and solidarity. reporter: the historical core of the eu includes its founding member states -- france, germany, belgium, the netherlands, luxembourg, and italy. the european union started as an agreement between these

countries to secure supplies of steel and coal within the block. it was seen as an economic plan and a piece project when the countries signed the first agreements. european countries grew closer, but in the 1990's, the current finance minister post the question why shouldn't the core countries integrate then member nations with more reservations? then, there's been much discussion about having two separate speeds of integration, mostly with regard to the common currency. >> we effectively have european integration occurring at varying speeds. we have two nations like britain and denmark who said we won't get involved with the euro. that may increase that we must allow the eu to take on more responsibilities. reporter: greece's current

financial woes have dampened optimism in brussels. david cameron is not interested. he says if there were a core eu, britain would stay on the sidelines. mr. cameron: i think countries and europe have their histories, institutions, want their own sovereignty and ability to make thrown choices. to try to shoehorn countries into a centralized political union would be a great mistake for europe and written would not be part of it. reporter: so just like the united states of europe, the initial a la carte model remains as one of many visions of europe. nevertheless, the eu has come a long way, even if the british decide to set a different course. so what do the decision-makers

of tomorrow make of all these various visions of the eu? dw headed to berlin's harlem in building to ask him people how they would like -- how they would like europe to move forward. >> watching your hopes and -- what are your hopes for europe in the future? asked that there is less war and people become better at living together. >> that children are looked after better because there are so many who suffer. that, and the environment is very orton does well. >> that thing about greece should finally get fixed. i don't watch the news that much, so that's all i can think of. i expect europe to do more about refugees. >> i hope europe would give me a good work or something like that. >> i think the whole migration

policy needs to be graded. >> of europe unites in self, a strong europe will make a great difference in the world. against america or china or russia. anchor: let's get some expert analysis on this. i guess previously established the brussels office and served as his executive director. tell us what do you think the most significant challenge is to the eu is right now? >> i think it is a orton they are not so laser focused on -- i think it is important they are not so laser focused on greece, and what we're seeing right now is the crisis in greece is not

only a financial crisis that is telling us we have a major issue with democracy and europe. the crisis in greece is telling us we have a crisis of democracy in the european union as a whole. as the americans are saying, the crisis is a terrible thing to waste. for the project of the european union, that means we are focusing on holding the political union finally that we have put on the back earners. anchor: what exactly does that mean going forward? guest: it means to give the citizens more rights to be engaged in european democracy. we have taken baby steps through parliament elections but at the end of the day, the citizens of europe one to see they can actively participate and decide

how the european union of the future will look like. we have to take them serious, otherwise as we see in france, parties that are catering to the left and right are getting the upper hand. anchor: it sounds like you are a fan of further integration. what does that look like guest: i think it's necessary to discuss integration into further areas right now. we have discussed for years that we have to build a european union that is able to be a force when it comes to its security policy and so far, we have not ate any progress. if you look at the eastern borders, we have a crisis in ukraine that is far from being over and we have to demonstrate the citizens of europe and to our neighborhood that europe is able to be a player when in

comes to foreign and security policy. this is one of the key areas where we need to discuss further integration. anchor: these are problems which have to be addressed immediately. when we look at the vision for europe's, 10 or 15 years down the line, what does it look like? how does europe balance these crises with the further integration you would like to see? guest: the good news is i believe the european union has a future, but the caveat is the european union is facing its biggest trust test since -- biggest stress test since its foundation. they have to demonstrate to its partners and to the united states that it's able to handle its own crises at home and as abroad. i can see that the european

union will have or member states that the 28 member states, meaning that some member states like the brits, germany will need more confidence to go forward and have more confidence in areas like lauren and security policy and other member states will -- anchor: i'm so sorry, we have to leave it there.

damien: hello and a very warm welcome to "focus on europe," with some of the best personal stories behind the headlines. i am damien mcguinness. and we've got a great show lined up for you today. in finland, the long-lost children of hitler's army. in turkey, the authorities get tough. and ukraine, a new safe haven for the russian opposition. i can remember being quite shocked when i once heard how an elderly estonian lady had fond memories of one of the nazi soldiers who had occupied estonia in world war ii. he had very kindly given her a red ribbon to tie in her hair, instead of the shoelace she was