“Balkan countries putting restrictions on the flow of people go against even European rules and regulations and certainly against basic refugee protection laws”, Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said in Athens on Wednesday. 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.
Advertisement
Greece, where thousands of Afghans have been held up at the border with Macedonia, angrily protested at being excluded from the ministerial meeting, underscoring the deep rifts within the EU. “There is just one question: when will this European solution come?”
“Greece has the biggest burden in the EU”, Grandi said at a news conference following a meeting with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.
Greece, which was not invited, was highly critical of the gathering attended by interior and foreign ministers of the participating nations. “[Germany] should decide on one strategy”, Mikl-Leitner said.
Brussels was also “coordinating a contingency planning effort, to offer support in case of a humanitarian crisis both outside and within the EU”, it said.
Ministers from Albania, Austria, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia are meeting at the “Managing Migration Together” summit.
“From now on, Greece will not agree to deals if we do not secure the mandatory sharing of the burden and responsibility proportionally among member states”, Mr Tsipras said.
“While coordinated action can help the management of the mixed migration movement, the statement has been interpreted differently by countries, resulting in increased protection risks for refugees and asylum-seekers, particularly those with specific needs, such as unaccompanied and separated children”, the UNHCR noted in its statement.
“The border restrictions should be lifted and relocation has to happen for the people already here towards countries throughout Europe”.
The EU remains deeply divided over how to handle the migrant crisis, especially over recent border closures by several member states that have threatened the passport-free Schengen area.
Their discussion will feed into the meeting of the 28 ministers later in the day.
Austria has recently capped the number of asylum-seekers it will accept daily at its borders to 80, and limited the number of refugees it will let pass through the country.
Advertisement
But some European Union diplomats are quietly sympathetic to its plight. It cited “limited resources and reception capacities, potential consequences for internal security and social cohesion as well as challenges with regard to integration”.
