Migrant crisis: EU reassures Greece over Schengen zone

The EU summit chairman, Donald Tusk, says expelling Greece from the passport-free Schengen zone would not solve the EU's migrant crisis.

   The European Council president was speaking in Athens, as Greece announced that four out of five new registration centres for migrants were now ready.

   Greece is under huge pressure from its EU partners to stop the daily flow of thousands of migrants north through the Balkans. Many are Syrian refugees.

   EU border staff are helping Greece now. Last week the EU set Greece a deadline of three months to fix its border controls, amid fears of another migration surge from Turkey when the weather improves.

   Macedonia tries to stop migrant flow. The crisis will be high on the EU's agenda at a Brussels summit on Thursday. The risk of jihadists sneaking in has added to European concern about Schengen. Two of the jihadists who attacked Paris in November had travelled via Greece, among refugees. The influx has angered politicians in Austria and some other Schengen countries - to the point where some want to expel Greece from the 26-nation zone.

Πηγή: BBC