The refugee crisis would determine the future of Europe because failure to deal with it would mean failure of the idea of a union, European Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said.

During a debate in the European Parliament yesterday following a meeting of home affairs ministers a day earlier, Mr Avramopoulos said the crisis was a test of Europe’s values. The problem, he pointed out, was not about money and figures but about human dignity and respect for others.

“Human dignity and respect for others are the values on which Europe has built its dream. This will define our past as Europeans. It is a test of our values,” he added.

EU home affairs ministers on Monday discussed a raft of European Commission proposals, including an emergency relocation mechanism to ease pressure on frontline member states.

No agreement on the relocation of 120,000 refugees was struck. Efforts by Germany and France were stonewalled by determined opposition from a core of eastern member states, including Hungary.

This led the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres, to point out that the West had opened its arms to 200,000 fleeing Hungarians in 1956 when democratic forces were crushed by the Soviets. The defeat resulted in a mass exodus of Hungarians to Austria and the former Yugoslavia.

He stressed that the fight against ISIS was an ideological battle of values that could not be fought by military strength alone. “Europe welcoming Syrians defeats the propaganda of ISIS. Europe rejecting refugees will strengthen them,” Mr Guterres said.

Federica Mogherini, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, pointed out that the refugee crisis did not start with recent flows making the headlines, because countries like Italy and Malta had been dealing with it for years. She appealed for unity.

Nationalist MEP Roberta Metsola said it was time for Europe to show, through concrete action, the values on which it was built. The aunt of Aylan Kurdi – the three-year old Syrian boy whose body was washed up on a Turkish beach and whose picture hit the headlines worldwide - urged the EU to open its heart, saying it was not too late to save thousands of lives.