Austria to close border to migrants as leaders warn open door policy must end

Austria will close its border to migrants in the coming months because it cannot take any more refugees, its foreign minister has said. “Most probably in the coming months our maximum number will be reached, so Austria will have to stop the migrants at its border,” Sebastian Kurz said during a visit to the Macedonian capital, Skopje. He also insisted Macedonia must be ready to completely stop the entry of migrants on its borders. His comments echo concerns raised by French and Russian leaders on Friday and came as the European Union gave Greece three months to sort out is border controls.

It’s quite simply stupid to open Europe’s doors wide and invite in everyone who wants to come to your country

Russian prime minister Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev

In France, prime minister Manuel Valls said Germany’s open door policy had to be brought to an end as it was not sustainable. He said: “We have to say this clearly: Europe cannot take in all migrants from Syria, Iraq or Africa. It has to regain control over its borders, over its migration or asylum policies.” His Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev weighed in by adding: “European migration policy is a total failure, all that is absolutely frightening.”  Meanwhile, the EU has warned that the notion of borderless travel “is at serious risk” unless Greece tightens its borders.

The point is not locking Greece out of Schengen. The point is - if the external border is not being controlled, it allows member states to keep the controls that are in place on their own internal borders

Senior EU official

migrants