(Reuters) Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz hinted on Saturday that borders could be closed across the Balkans in response to a rush of migrants towards Greece from Turkey, echoing action taken during Europe’s 2015-16 migration crisis.
Greek police fired teargas to push back hundreds of migrants gathered on the border with Turkey on Saturday, as a crisis over Syria shifted onto the European Union’s doorstep.
Ankara says it will no longer contain hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers after an air strike on Idlib in northwestern Syria killed 33 Turkish soldiers.
“We are in constant contact with our partners in the EU and along the western Balkan route. Should the protection of the EU’s external borders not succeed, then Austria will protect its borders,” Kurz, a critic of Turkey’s government and a hawk on illegal immigration, said in a statement.
