A draft communique revealed that the EU wants to declare the Western Balkan route — used by thousands of refugees to reach Europe — "now closed", however German Chancellor Angela Merkel has publicly dismissed the statement, rejecting the "closed border" rhetoric.
"For all countries, including Greece, closing anything is not an option," Merkel said as she arrived at the summit in Brussels.
Greece wants more than rhetoric; it wants action from all member states to help it cope with the numbers of refugees and migrants on its soil.
We urgently need to achieve credible and durable results on the #EUTurkey action plan, as well as the relocation programme #EUCO (3/3)
— Alexis Tsipras (@tsipras_eu) March 7, 2016
More than a million people entered the EU illegally by boat last year.
We were deeply saddened by news of migrant drownings that reached us en route to #EUTurkey Summit #EUCO (1/3) pic.twitter.com/0K4zwE07du
— Alexis Tsipras (@tsipras_eu) March 7, 2016
Eight countries have introduced temporary border controls along the route, leaving 13,000 refugees and migrants stranded on the Greek-Macedonian border.
EU leaders are also hoping to persuade Turkey to do more but Ankara are accusing the EU of being too slow to release the US$3.1 billion in aid money to help the country house and feed three million refugees living there.
The meeting will be followed by an informal European Council where leaders are expected to pledge their support for a faster response to the major migrant crisis — but missing from the summit is the EU's foreign policy chief and vice president, Federica Mogherini who is visiting Cuba rather than attending the refugee summit with Turkey.
.@FedericaMog travels to #Cuba on 10-11 March https://t.co/fSqWoFgrWf
— EU External Action (@eu_eeas) 4 March 2016
Christian Leffler, Secretary General for Economic and Global, the European External Action Service EU delegation said that Europe trusts "the joint will advance towards an agreement to provide a framework and platform for a new relationship between Cuba and the EU."
The EU suspended relations with Havana in 2003. The visit by Federica Mogherini to the Latin American country is part of the seventh round of talks to reach an agreement and consensus on human rights in the push for a new accord between the EU and Cuba.
Very productive 1st day in 7th round of #EU-#Cuba talks@on new dialogue & coop agreement. @eu_eeas @CubaMINREX pic.twitter.com/Ch1H9LMn5U
— Christian Leffler (@CLefflerEU) 4 March 2016
In Brussels the major migrant crisis may be top of the agenda — with EU member states attempting to hammer out a deal with Turkey — but EU's foreign policy chief would much rather be focusing on the risks of weapon proliferation in Havana.
