European Council President Donald Tusk on Thursday warned potential migrants not to risk their lives to reach Europe.
“Do not come to Europe. Do not believe the smugglers. Do not risk your lives and your money. It is all for nothing,” Tusk said, speaking after a meeting in Athens with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.
Tusk’s comments were aimed at economic migrants crossing over to the continent not refugees, but he also said Greece would no longer be a “transit country” for the hundreds of thousands of both migrants and refugees who use the Mediterranean Sea route to try to reach western Europe.
My remarks after meeting in Athens with Prime Minister @atsipras: https://t.co/JxD62RWvZj. #migrationEU #EUCO pic.twitter.com/6OCDI9UBpg
— Donald Tusk (@eucopresident) March 3, 2016
The European Union on Wednesday announced £544 million ($771 million) in additional emergency funding to help Greece deal with the ongoing refugee crisis.
According to reports, around 10,000 people are currently stuck at a bottleneck at the Greek border with Macedonia. Macedonian authorities have allowed only a handful of refugees to enter the country this week.
Thousands stranded in Greece after Macedonia opens border for only 250 migrants https://t.co/UmpA6yIFII #Idomeni pic.twitter.com/HUH5JZ3GKN
— dwnews (@dwnews) March 3, 2016
(Image: BBC)