09 February 2016•Update: 09 February 2016
BELGRADE, Serbia
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Monday that Europe needed a new line of defense at the Bulgaria-Greece and Macedonia-Greece borders, because Athens had failed to secure them.
Orban's remarks came after a meeting with Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo in the Hungarian capital, Budapest.
"The EU is vulnerable from the south. Greece cannot protect the continent, so a new line of defense should be established at the Bulgaria-Greece and Macedonia-Greece borders," said Orban, referring to the migrant crisis in Europe.
Hungary was the first EU country to build a border fence to control the flow of refugees, on Aug. 6, before sealing its frontier with Serbia.
Macedonia and Slovenia also built border fences to control refugee movements in 2015.
Greece received more than 850,000 refugees fleeing war zones in 2015, according to the UNHCR. Already this year, more than 35,000 people have reached the country despite winter temperatures and stormy weather.
The refugee crisis has caused tension in Europe with some EU interior ministers, in January, threatening to exclude Greece from Schengen.
