Greece blasts ‘lies’ about its handling of migrant crisis, amid calls for Schengen suspension

Greece has lashed out at what it called “lies” by its EU partners following calls for Athens to be suspended from the Schengen passport-free zone if it fails to staunch the flow of migrants into Europe.

At a tense meeting of EU interior ministers in Amsterdam, Austria and Germany urged Greece - the European gateway for thousands of migrants each day - to do more to tackle the continent’s worst migration crisis since World War II.

But Greece’s interior minister for migration Yiannis Mouzalas insisted on Monday that his country - already buffeted by a debt crisis that almost drove it out of the euro last year - is doing its best in difficult circumstances.

“We are tired to listen that we cannot secure our borders,” Mouzalas told reporters in Amsterdam. “We are told that we don’t want coastguards, it’s a lie - we want more coastguards.”

The short sea crossing from Turkey to the Greek islands accounted for most of the one million migrants and refugees who arrived in Europe last year, but Mouzalas said it would be illegal under international law to push them back.

Ewa Moncure, spokeswoman for EU border agency Frontex, also stressed the illegality of turning asylum seekers away from Greek waters.

“Under international law, every person who crosses a European border can claim asylum,” she said.