Greece’s Migration Minister Yannis Mouzalas said that if the plan of the Visegrad states — the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia — goes through and Balkan countries seal off their borders, his country would end up facing “a major humanitarian crisis” and it would not stop the influx of migrants.
In an interview published today in the German business daily Handelsblatt, Mouzalas said the only way to stop the influx of refugees was to put an end to Syria’s civil war and for the European Union to work towards addressing the humanitarian crisis in Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey.
“That’s the only way we can overcome the crisis. Border closures don’t help,” he said in an interview published just before a summit of European Union leaders in Brussels with the refugee crisis high on the agenda.
Regarding the criticisms launched against Greece for alleged failure to fulfill its obligation under the Schengen agreement, Mouzalas said that Greece has “the best possible controls” in land and sea.
He also added that there were 700 officers from Frontex placed on Greek islands but that the number is far smaller than what Greek authorities had requested.
(Source: Reuters)
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