Austria says as of Friday it would allow no more than 80 migrants a day to apply for asylum at its borders while allowing up to 3,200 other people looking for asylum elsewhere to transit its territory.
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Following Austria’s tighter measures, Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia have also tightened their borders.
While Merkel voiced “complete understanding” for the Turkish prime minister’s absence from Brussels, she said a joint approach with Turkey backed by 3 billion euros ($3.3 billion) in European Union financing remains the best hope for ending national go-it- alone measures.
As the main gateway into the EU, Greece has been struggling to cope with the new arrivals and fears new restrictions by other members will leave tens of thousands of people stranded on its territory.
A meeting with Turkey and the leaders of 11 European Union countries had been planned before Thursday, but was cancelled when Turkey’s premier Ahmet Davutoglu pulled out following a bomb attack in Ankara.
Since the beginning of the refugee crisis past year, the European Commission strongly recommended state members welcome refugees and distribute them evenly among each country, but some EU countries such as Austria have completely closed their borders.
The EU migration commissioner, Dimitris Avramopoulos, told Vienna its decision to limit the number of asylum applications it is ready to accept was illegal and “plainly incompatible with Austria’s obligations” under EU and worldwide law.
Austria deported hundreds of refugees back to neighboring Slovenia in December 2015 on the ground that they had allegedly lied about their nationality in a failed attempt to be granted asylum.
The possibility of saying “we don’t take refugees” doesn’t exist, said the official.
“I am very happy with our decision and we will stick to it”, Johanna Mikl-Leitner told reporters at a conference on migration.
In calling a summit with Turkey in just a few weeks, the leaders are looking at ways to persuade it to deliver on its pledge to crack down on migrants trying to cross into Greece.
Migrants walk between registration tents at the border to Slovenia in Spielfeld, Austria, Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2016.
More than 1 million people entered the European Union in 2015 fleeing conflict or poverty, and some 84,000 have entered so far this year.
Europe has been paralysed by indecision and bitter infighting over who should take the blame for the current refugee crisis, which has seen millions of people from Asia, the Middle East and North Africa arrive in the continent.
Meanwhile Portugal said on Friday it had offered to take in an additional 5,800 asylum-seekers, on top of 4,500 already accepted, to help ease the pressure on countries “where the migration pressure is strongest”, including Austria, Sweden, Italy and Greece.
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The majority of migrants and refugees have headed for Germany via Austria, which saw 90,000 asylum claims previous year, equivalent to one per cent of its population.
