Shutting Greeceās northern border with Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) will stem the migrant flow into Europe, Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz said.
The Austrian politician criticized Greece for not doing its part in protecting Europe’s external problems. “If the northern border is shut down leaving Greece for more than 24 hours with the refugees on its territory, then its interest in accepting European help will quickly change,” Kurz said in an interview with Greek newspaper Ta Nea.
“Refugees begin their journey when they know that they will reach Europe soon. If this prospect disappears, the number of those who set out will drop,” the Austrian minister said.
“We must slow the refugee inflow. That can only happen if we stop them at some border. If it is not the Greece-Turkey border, then it will have to be the Greece-FYROM border,” he said.
On Monday, a mini-summit of the Visegard Four — an alliance of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia — is scheduled to discuss a backup border control system with FYROM and Bulgarian leaders in Prague.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will ask for the support of Germany and France during the extraordinary European Union summit on the refugee issue on Wednesday. Tsipras will ask for the FYROM border to remain open to prevent the tens of thousands of migrants that would end up stranded in Greece.
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