3/6/2016 Balkan route closed, EU to declare – POLITICO

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The Balkan route taken by hundreds of thousands of migrants to Europe is going to

Balkan route closed, EU to declareGermany sets aside concerns about Turkish human rights to secure a dealon migration with Ankara.

By  JACOPO BARIGAZZI  | 3/6/16, 8:05 PM CET

Migrants at the Greek border with Macedonia on Saturday. | Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP/Getty

3/6/2016 Balkan route closed, EU to declare – POLITICO

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be closed, EU leaders will declare Monday at their summit with Turkey inBrussels, diplomats and officials said over the weekend.

Their statement — to be approved by leaders on Monday — was discussed byEU ambassadors on Sunday afternoon. “Irregular flows of migrants along theWestern Balkans route are coming to an end; this route is now closed,” according to acopy of the document obtained by POLITICO.

The meeting did not last long and ambassadors also endorsed the aim to “takeforward, as a matter of priority all the elements of the Commission roadmap,”according to a diplomatic source, who added that the draft statement was notcontroversial. The migration roadmap, which was put out on Friday, envisages aseries of steps for the return to normality in the Schengen area by December,dismantling the internal border controls reintroduced by some member states.

The new commitment to close the Western Balkan route used by hundreds ofthousands of migrants and refugees traveling from Greece to Northern Europewould end the “wave-through policy” that allowed migrants to cross borders withminimal controls.

The final statement stresses the need to be aware of other routes that migrants mighttake if the road running through Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia is shutdown. There are fears, especially in Rome, that migrants will try to travel norththrough Albania and across the Aegean Sea to Italy.

EU unease about Turkey

An agreement at the summit still faces political hurdles, in particular unease withinthe EU over a domestic crackdown in Turkey. Hours after European CouncilPresident Donald Tusk left Ankara last week, Turkish authorities on Fridayseized Zaman, the country’s largest opposition newspaper.

The seizure prompted a mild censure by Brussels and silence in Berlin, which iseagerly seeking to get Turkey’s help to slow the flow of migrants into Europe. “Weshould not the referee the subject of human rights for the entire planet,” Germany’sInterior Minister Thomas de Maizière told the Passauer Neue Presse on Saturday. 

3/6/2016 Balkan route closed, EU to declare – POLITICO

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But there’s enough discomfort with Turkey’s behavior to cause trouble on Monday. “Iam afraid we could have an intense discussion on that since some are complainingthat the EU has been too soft with Ankara,” said a diplomat.

The summit is intended to address the refugee crisis by making it clear that migrantswill be swiftly returned to Turkey and that last year’s “open-door” policy, that made itpossible for more than a million people to make their way to Germany, is over.

To help ease the humanitarian strain on Greece, where thousands of migrants arenow stuck after borders were closed further to the north, the EU is counting onTurkey’s help. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, in his meeting in Ankarawith Tusk on Thursday, agreed to step up the return of illegal migrants from Greeceas part of a bilateral readmission program with Athens, another official said.

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“On Monday, I would like us to agree that all available EU tools, including acceleratedrelocation, should be used to address the humanitarian consequences for therefugees, not least in Greece, in a speedy and effective way,” Tusk wrote in hisinvitation letter to leaders who’ll gather in Brussels Monday.

Turkey to accept returnees

Davutoğlu, who will take part in the first session of the summit, also confirmedTurkey’s readiness to take back Syrians rescued in international waters by a NATO-led operation. NATO on Sunday reached a deal with Frontex, the EU border agency,on how to coordinate efforts. “We welcome that Frontex and NATO reached acommon understanding today on the modalities of their cooperation in the AegeanSea,” said Federica Mogherini, the EU foreign policy chief, in a joint statementSunday with the Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos. 

On some days, as many as two-thirds of the 3,000 people coming into Greece are

3/6/2016 Balkan route closed, EU to declare – POLITICO

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non-Syrians. The plan is to give these people a one-way ticket home.

The statement that was worked on Sunday calls for members to approve ahumanitarian package for Athens, presented by the Commission on Wednesday,before the next summit of EU leaders on March 17.

Part of the effort to help Athens includes a speeding up of the existing relocationprograms for 66,400 refugees from Greece that has largely been moribund,diplomats said. The draft statement calls for action to “accelerate relocation toalleviate the heavy burden that presently weighs on Greece.”

Diplomats said they were optimistic that a consensus will emerge at the summit. Theclosure of the Balkan route will also soften the problem of Austria’s unilateraldecision to impose a yearly and daily cap on the number of refugees the country willaccept, a decision branded by the Commission as a violation of international law,said an official.

Ahead of the summit on Monday morning Tusk will hold bilateral meetings withsome of the leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Turkish PrimeMinister Davutoğlu, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, andMark Rutte, prime minister of the Netherlands, which holds the rotating presidency.

Tusk will also meet with Nicos Anastasiades, leader of the Greek Cypriotgovernment, that on Monday will graduate from the bailout program three yearsafter receiving the financial lifeline. 

 Matthew Karnitschnig in Berlin contributed reporting to this article.