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EU's Tusk to talk with Turkey's leaders to strengthen cooperation regarding the migration crisis

Xinhua, March 2, 2016 Adjust font size:

European Council President Donald Tusk on Tuesday said he would talk with Turkey's leader to boost the cooperation to deal over the migration crisis later this week.

After meeting with Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann in Vienna, Tusk said the EU would continue to improve the cooperation with its neighbors with regard to the migration crisis.

"Europe is ready, as it has already demonstrated, to grant substantial financial support to the countries neighboring the war-torn regions," he said in a statement in a press meeting.

Tusk's visit to Vienna came on the heels of meetings of some Western Balkan states, also in Vienna, which led to agreements to coordinate their border controls to prevent the influx of migrants.

Austria has started to cap the number of migrants coming into the country, saying it's not a waiting room for Germany, as most of the migrants are passing through on their way to Germany, and the small country is reaching its intake limit.

The EU has yet to find a common solution to resolve the crisis. However, some EU member states, like Austria, have implemented their own policy to strengthen their border control within the EU's Schengen zone.

Tusk is to visit some Balkan states later this week and then talk with Turkey's political leaders.

"We expect a more intensive engagement from our partners as an absolute pre-condition to avoid a humanitarian disaster. This will be the subject matter of my talks in Turkey this Thursday and Friday," Tusk said.

It seems there is no sign of the end of the migrant influx, as thousands of migrants are still reaching Greece from Turkey by sea, and the EU is trying to cooperate with Turkey to stop the crisis by protecting the external border of EU.

Tusk also noted member states should fully apply the Schengen border code. Endit