BRUSSELS:  The latest developments as European governments struggle to cope with the huge number of people moving across Europe.

The European Union hopes to provide more than 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) in aid to Syrian refugees and release another 1 billion euros for Turkey, the host for almost 2 million people who have fled the conflict.

The EU's executive Commission plans to allocate more than 300 million euros to top up its "trust fund" for Syrian refugees.

Johannes Hahn, the commissioner responsible for ties with the EU's neighbors, said Wednesday that "this is a signal and hopefully will stimulate our member states to do the same," and push the total to 1 billion euros.

He also says the Commission is working with Turkey to free up 1 billion euros earmarked for that country's EU membership process as a short-term measure to help deal with the refugee influx.