Kurz: Erdoğan using people as weapon to pressure the EU

The refugee crisis between Turkey and the European Union continues growing since Turkey decided to open its gates for refugees to leave for Europe after the killing of dozens of soldiers in Syria's Idlib last week.

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz on Tuesday slammed Turkey for trying to blackmail the EU by opening its borders to thousands of refugees seeking to flee to Europe.

“This rush is not an accident, it’s organized,” Kurz told journalists in Vienna. “Those people are used by Erdogan as a playball, as a weapon, to apply pressure on the European Union.”

"It is an attack by Turkey against the European Union and Greece. People are being used to pressure Europe... The EU must not be susceptible to blackmail," Kurz told reporters.

Kurz accused President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to lure refugees with "false promises" and transporting them to the Greek border -- from where they are seeking to enter Europe -- using people as "weapon" to pressure the EU.

Kurz added it was a "test" for the EU if it can protect its outer borders, saying Austria stood ready to support Greece and any other countries which may face an "onslaught".

"I can guarantee you one thing: if the outer borders of the EU don't work, then Europe without (inner) borders is history," he said.

Kurz said Erdogan “consciously organized” the action, that “buses are provided, migrants are informed, there’s a deliberate attempt to organize this rush on Greece.” The refugees at the border aren’t from Idlib or from other regions in Syria, but have been in Turkey for many years, he said.

Speaking to the press in German capital Berlin on Monday, EU migration commissioner Margaritis Schinas said “nobody can blackmail and intimidate the European Union.”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday it was “unacceptable" for Turkey to pressure the EU “on the backs of refugees" as thousands, some fleeing fighting in northern Syria, sought to enter the bloc.

“I find it completely unacceptable that… President Erdogan and his government did not bring their dissatisfaction to us at the EU, but instead duked it out on the backs of refugees," Merkel told a Berlin press conference, while acknowledging the “additional burden" on Turkey.

On Monday,  Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte condemned Erdoğan for flagrantly disregarding the terms of an agreement under which Turkey is given European cash to house millions of refugees. He warned that Europe should not renegotiate with Mr Erdogan with “a knife at its throat”.

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