The German leader said that “it goes without saying that I will do my utmost to prove that the Euro-Turkish collaboration is the way in which we must continue”. At the same time she stressed that a possible closure of the Greek borders would put the entire Schengen agreement to danger.
“The big issue for the European Council is the following question; Have we progressed that far in the Euro-Turkish approach on the basis of the EU-Turkey agenda, concerning the complete dealing with the reasons of the migrant crisis and the guarding of our external borders that it is worth it to continue down that path-since this way can lead to some crucial limiting of illegal migration, which is decisive if we are to achieve the legally accepted sharing of the migrants-or must we abandon it and, instead, as many insist on asking, to close the borders between Greece-Fyrom-Bulgaria with any effect that this might have on Greece as well as the entire European Union?”
These statements become particularly interesting in view of the mini summit about the migrant crisis which is scheduled to be held on Thursday in Brussels just before the meeting of the European Council. The mini summit will include leaders from Austria, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Luxemburg, and Finland. The Turkish prime minister, Ahmet Davutoglu was also scheduled to participate but the grave bombing incident which took place in Ankara on Wednesday afternoon has forced him to postpone his trip. The president of the European council, J.C.Juncker and the president of the European Parliament, M.Schulz are also going to participate in the meeting.
Earlier today both Mr.Schulz and Mr.Juncker made statements which dismissed the idea of a closure of the borders between Greece and Fyrom, in effect the closure of the route from Greece to the rest of Europe, as contradictory to the European idea, a danger to the Schengen agreement as well as the entire European structure.