German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday said an upcoming meeting of European leaders in Brussels would be a "first exchange" toward finding solutions and agreements to problems connected with migration.

Speaking at a press conference in the Lebanese capital, she characterized Sunday's planned emergency gathering as a "consultative and working meeting at which there will be no closing declaration."

Malta is among the countries expected to take part in the mini-summit, with views quite dissimilar to those of the bigger countries like France and Germany.

Merkel is visiting the Middle East amid a serious domestic row over migration that's straining her ruling coalition.

Bavaria's Christian Social Union party demands that some migrants should be turned back at Germany's borders, and has given her two weeks to reach agreement with European partners. Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, the CSU's leader, is threatening to go ahead unilaterally with his plans if she doesn't - potentially threatening the governing coalition. Merkel rejects the idea of taking unilateral action.

The meeting on Sunday among leaders from a group of EU countries, led by Germany and France, is intended to thrash out possible solutions. It comes ahead of a full summit of the 28-nation EU next Thursday and Friday.

"What it's about on Sunday is talking with particularly affected nations about all problems connected with migration - primary migration as well as secondary migration - and, following on from Sunday, seeing whether we can reach, bi-, tri- or even multinational agreements to better solve certain problems," she said.

"So Sunday is a first exchange with interested member states - it was open to all member states, but of course not every country is affected in the same way - no more and no less than a working and consultative meeting."

Asked whether she expects her governing coalition to stay together, she replied: "I am working so that the coalition can fulfill the tasks it set itself in the coalition agreement, and we have plenty to do; we have achieved some things already."