The European Union should bolster its border defenses against another influx of migrants in anticipation of the possible collapse of the bloc's refugee deal with Turkey, Austria's defense minister said Saturday.
"I have always said that the EU-Turkey deal should only be a stop-gap measure until the EU is in the position to effectively protect its external borders and thereby stem the flow of migrants," Hans Peter Doskozil told the German daily "Bild" in an interview.
"The time to organize for that is ever closer," he said, adding that he invited defense ministers from Central European states to Vienna early next week to discuss joint measures and the situation in Turkey.
Doskozil's comments come as the EU-Turkey migrant deal, which went into effect in March, has encountered a number of stumbling blocks even as it has reduced the number of migrants arriving in Greece.
Under the deal, Turkey agreed to take back Syrian migrants in Greece who did not apply for or did not receive asylum in the EU in exchange for aid and the bloc taking a set amount of Syrian refugees directly from Turkey.
