Austria will prevent a repeat of what happened in 2015, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz says

Turkey presses for more EU aid in tackling the refugee crisis from Syria’s civil war.

Austria has issued firm statement following Turkish announcements that it has opened its borders to allow migrants and refugees on towards the EU.

Austria says it will defend its borders to prevent a repeat of what happened in 2015 when hundreds of thousands of migrants and refugees entered the EU via the Balkan route.

“Any attempt to rush the Austrian borders would be "stopped" if "measures to halt migrants in Greece and through the Balkans first fail.” Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said.

Kurz reiterated this point saying that his government was in "constant contact with our partners in the EU and along the western Balkan route."

Although his government is now in coalition with the left-wing Green party which, on entering government had a differing approach to migration, the Greens are minority partners and the messages coming from the new government have maintained much of Kurz' 'firm' approach to migration and border control.

Something which has led some political analysts to criticize the Greens for “enabling anti-immigration policies.”

Kurz said that Austria would be ready to send "extra police to countries on the border," with Turkey including Greece and Bulgaria, in order to help defend the EU's external borders. Kurz's sentiments were echoed in neighboring Hungary.