Speaking after a meeting with European Council President Donald Tusk in Athens, the Greek Premier promised to provide “dignified” living conditions for the more than 30,000 migrants trapped in Greece after countries further north imposed entry restrictions.
But he insisted the solution can only be temporary and that Greece will accept only its fair share of permanently resettled refugees.
Earlier, Tusk warned prospective economic migrants to not even think of setting off towards Europe. He said people who are not fleeing war should not risk their lives or their money paying smugglers, adding: “It is all for nothing. Greece, or any other European country, will no longer be a transit country.”
Tusk was in Athens as part of a tour through countries worst affected by the continent’s immigration crisis.
The idea of imposing sanction on countries that do not comply with EU decisions was first aired by Germany in September 2015 to pressure member states into accepting binding quotas to relocate 120,000 refugees, after several eastern countries refused the migrant distribution proposal.
“The negotiations situation is such that nothing happens to countries which refuse. We need to talk about ways of exerting pressure. These are often countries that receive a lot of structural funds from the European Union. European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker “has suggested that we should look at whether these countries should get less structural funds, which I agree with,” ” German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said at the time .
Meanwhile, a group of migrants blocked a railway line at Greece’s border with Macedonia in protest at the latter country’s refusal to let them in to continue their route towards western Europe.
The group lay down on the Greek side of the track preventing a freight train that had just crossed from Macedonia from continuing its journey south.
Some 10,000 people are stranded at the Idomeni border crossing.
