Austria wants not only to crimp the influx of migrants pouring into Europe but to fully stop it, its interior minister declared Wednesday as she convened a meeting of ministers from Western Balkan nations.
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Austrian foreign minister Kurz responded by saying that Greece had “clearly expressed no interest in reducing the (migrant) influx and in contrast wants to continue waving them through” to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, from where they make their way northward. That creates a bottleneck of refugees that is hurting nations further south, including European Union member Greece, the first point of landing for most of the migrants arriving by boat from Turkey.
“We need a larger political consensus on this issue”, he said.
Refugees and migrants are helped by volunteers as they arrive on a…
An EU scheme agreed in September to relocate 160,000 people among EU nations under mandatory quotas, has seen just 598 relocated so far, with former communist members of the bloc opposing the plan and filing legal challenges.
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said Wednesday that from now on Greece “will not assent to agreements” unless all its partners are forced to participate proportionately in the relocation and resettlement of refugees. Greece – which was not invited – blasted the gathering as “hostile”. “We are also all working towards a European solution”, she told reporters. “The question is when”, Mikl-Leitner told a news conference.
As a result of the stricter transit rules introduced this week, Greek migration minister Ioannis Mouzalas said he expects the number of stranded immigrants in his country to reach “tens of thousands”.
Austria, the last stop on the way to Germany for hundreds of thousands of migrants who have flocked to Europe in the a year ago, has set off what it calls a “domino effect” of national restrictions limiting the flow of people towards it.
Mikl-Leitner shrugged off the concerns from Greece and the EU.
Austrian officials said that the conclusions of the talks would be presented to a meeting of European Union interior and justice ministers on Thursday in Brussels.
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As a result on Wednesday, around 3,000 people were waiting at the Idomeni crossing point between Greece and FYROM, police said, with FYROM allowing 860 people through overnight.
