Migrant Flow From Turkey to Europe ‘Too High’

Too many migrants arrive in Greece from Turkey, the European Council said in a statement after the first day of the Brussels summit, calling on Turkey to take more decisive action on migration.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The European Council declared in a statement after the first day of the Brussels summit that influx of migrants from Greece to Turkey is considerable and called on Turkey to take more decisive action on migration. 

The Friday statement stresses that "the flows of migrants arriving in Greece from Turkey remain much too high. We need to see a substantial and sustainable reduction of the number of illegal entries from Turkey into the EU. This calls for further, decisive efforts also on the Turkish side to ensure effective implementation of the Action Plan."

In November 2014, Turkey and the European Union approved a joint plan to cut the influx of migrants into the 28-nation bloc. Turkey is to help protect EU borders, and is expected to agree to resettle refugees that have managed to get to Europe from Turkey. EU member-states are expected to provide Ankara with over $3 billion and give impetus to negotiations for Turkey's accession to the European Union.

European Council President Donald Tusk told reporters after the first day of the EU summit in Brussels that the joint action plan with Turkey remains a priority. European Commission President Jean-Claude Junker confirmed that cooperation with Turkey has no alternative.

According to Tusk, a special EU-Turkey meeting is planned for March in order to discuss the joint plan.

Turkey is a key transit country for thousands of refugees fleeing conflicts in Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East and heading for Europe.

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), over 78,000 migrants or refugees have crossed into Greece since the beginning of 2016.