"There is an understanding that we must regain control over external borders…but this leads to Greece facing additional problems, which it has to resolve, and therefore we must support Greece," Kern said following the summit on migration along the Balkan route in Vienna.
Kern invited the president of the European Council, the European commissioner for migration, the interior minister of Romania, the heads of government of Bulgaria, Albania, Germany, Greece, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia and Hungary to discuss a common strategy for the migration situation along the Balkan route.
On September 23, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras reminded the UN General Assembly that nearly 60,000 migrants remained stranded in Greece.
In March, the Balkan route for migrants was effectively closed when Austria decided to limit the number of migrants crossing its border, which led to many Balkan states following suit and introducing their own temporary border controls.
Europe is currently facing a major refugee crisis, with hundreds of thousands of migrants attempting to reach EU member states through various routes, including via Italy, Greece, Turkey and the Balkan states. Despite Brussels' efforts to curb the migration influx, many people still continue to attempt to reach the European bloc.
