ATHENS: European Union countries must work together to deal with the migrant crisis troubling the bloc and avoid blaming each other, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told Greek daily Ta Nea in an interview on Monday.
EU members have started to pull in different directions in recent weeks as they argue over how to deal with the arrival of hundreds of thousands of people fleeing war in the Middle East and beyond.
“We must fight for Europe. We must stop blaming each other. On the contrary, we must unite forces and work together for a European solution to the refugee crisis. This is the only way for Europe to emerge stronger from this crisis,” Steinmeier said.
Greece, whose islands are the primary gateway to Europe for new arrivals, has been inundated with refugees and migrants after border shutdowns cascaded through the Balkans.
Austria last week hosted a summit of Balkan nations on how to regulate the migrant flows without inviting Athens.
This prompted Greece to recall its ambassador to Austria in anger over the border closures and threaten to block European Union decision-making unless the bloc comes up with concerted action to deal with the crisis.