European Union officials are holding emergency meetings in Brussels today on the influx of refugees, following Germany’s unprecedented decision to institute temporary controls on its border with Austria Sunday. Germany shut down trains between Germany and Austria and instituted a spot check on cars after as many as 20,000 people fleeing violence in their home countries arrived in Munich over the weekend. Other countries have taken similar steps, including Austria, which has announced it is dispatching more than 2,000 troops to its borders, and Hungary, which is expected to introduce new laws on Tuesday criminalizing border crossing. German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière spoke about Germany’s temporary border controls Sunday.

Thomas de Maizière: “This step became necessary. The great willingness to help that Germany has shown in recent weeks, by full-time employees and especially by the many thousands of volunteers, must not be overstrained. The measures taken are also a signal to Europe. Germany is taking on its humanitarian responsibility, but the burden caused by the huge number of refugees must be distributed with solidarity in Europe.”

The tightening of borders comes as the U.N. refugee agency says a record 8,500 people entered Macedonia between Saturday night and Sunday morning. Meanwhile, at least 34 refugees — nearly half of them babies and children — drowned when their boat sank off the coast of Greece on Sunday.