European Union leaders gather in Brussels on Sunday in an attempt to bridge their deep divisions over migration, an issue that has been splitting them for years and now poses a fresh threat to German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Only 41,000 refugees and migrants have made it to the EU across the sea so far this year, U.N. figures show.

But the issue has in the meantime won and lost elections for politicians across the bloc from Italy to Hungary, with voters favoring those advocating a tougher stance on migration.

On Saturday, French President Emmanuel Macron said France favored financial sanctions for EU countries that refuse migrants with proven asylum status.Merkel is under pressure because her longtime conservative allies, Bavaria’s Christian Social Union (CSU), have threatened to start turning away at the German border all asylum seekers already registered elsewhere in the EU unless the bloc reaches an agreement on distributing them more evenly.

Meanwhile ,There may be disagreement within the German government on how to fight illegal migration. But Angela Merkel seems to have found a potentially valuable ally in her Austrian counterpart, Sebastian Kurz.

Austria plays a key role in this issue. Firstly, Germany's border with its southern neighbor would likely be the one most affected by Seehofer's idea. And secondly, Austria assumes the rotating presidency of the EU Council in July and has vowed to make the issue of migration central to its six-month tenure.

They mostly live in countries like Greece and Italy - both long overwhelmed with arrivals - or wealthy states like Germany or Sweden, where they choose to try to start a new life.