Germany again highlights need to 'restore order' and crack down on refugee traffickers in Aegean

Action had to be taken to finally stop the traffickers, who were currently doing whatever they liked and placing so many people's lives at risk, he said. This partly depended on Turkey's willingness to cooperate, he added, but also support to enable Greece to meet its obligations as an EU member-state, including its obligation to guard the EU's external borders.

"We want to bilaterally support both Turkey and Greece," he said, citing recent assistance given to Greece in terms of training and equipment for taking finger prints, as well as additional support given to Frontex.

When asked whether Germany considered Greece unable to guard the EU's external borders, Seibert noted that he was simply "describing the reality that exists," which was that traffickers were transporting people to the Greek islands from the Turkish coast unimpeded and had been doing so in large numbers for weeks and months.
This was something that all in Europe should take into account, he said, as well as the two countries whose sea borders were involved.

According to the spokesman, this was also the conclusion reached at the last European Council on the refugee issue and on which there was absolute agreement: that there must be a return to effective control of the EU's external borders. Germany will do what it can so that Greece receives the necessary support in this, he added.

Asked whether German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras might meet on the sidelines of the next summit, Seibert was unable to either confirm or deny the possibility, noting that the meetings arranged often depended on developments in Brussels.