CEE officials discuss potential collapse of EU-Turkey refugee deal

The defence ministers of Central and Eastern European countries have met in the Austrian state of Burgenland on Monday to discuss the potential collapse of the European Union (EU) refugee deal with Turkey, the APA news agency reported.

Austrian Defence Minister Hans Peter Doskozil organized the meeting in Frauenkirchen through the informal platform the Central European Defence Cooperation (CEDC), of which he is presently acting as head.

The visiting ministers, from Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia, and Slovenia, were reportedly in agreement that the deal with Turkey has "up to now not been adhered to."

Doskozil said there have to now only been few people taken back in by the country, while the number of arrivals in the Greek Isles have tripled.

This does not augur well for EU accession negotiations, he added, also pointing out other factors, such as that Turkey could soon reinstate the death penalty. It thus appears the deal is becoming more "fragile," Doskozil said.

All of these are reasons one must prepare for "what happens, should the deal no longer hold," the minister said.

Doskozil called for a further conference that would also bring in interior ministers to the discussion, in order to work on an action plan.

He also said individual countries should be supported in protecting their borders as is legally possible, through military, police, and civilian forces.

The defence ministers reportedly also plan to write to the EU for financial support. Endit