EXCLUDING Greece from the open-border Schengen area will not solve the refugee crisis that is testing Europe’s cohesion to its limits, EU Council President Donald Tusk said yesterday.
Central European nations have proposed drafting emergency back-up plans to halt the flow of refugees through the Balkans, effectively ring-fencing Greece.
After talks with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in Athens, Tusk told the media Europe needed to improve the protection of its external borders. He said that required more effort by Greece, but also more support from its EU partners. Tusk said: “The migration crisis is testing our union to its limits. For all those talking of excluding Greece from Schengen, thinking this is a solution to the migration crisis, I say no, it is not. It would solve none of our problems.”
EU ministers last week gave Greece three months to fulfil 50 recommendations. The leaders of Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia said on Monday there should be tighter controls on the borders of Balkan countries neighbouring Greece if attempts to limit the numbers travelling from Turkey to Greece failed.
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