Migrant crisis: Slovenia moves to 'shut down' Balkans route

Slovenia tightened its border controls along the Balkans route leading into Western Europe on Tuesday, in an attempt to stem the flow of thousands of migrants seeking passage into the continent from Greece.

The head of the group's European office, Iverna McGowan, said: "Turkey has forcibly returned refugees to Syria and many refugees in the country live in desperate conditions without adequate housing".

"On the issue of how we can decrease the number of refugees not just for some countries but for all countries including Greece, the issue cannot be that something is closed, but that we find a sustainable solution with Turkey", Merkel said as she arrived in Brussels.

The ultimate test of the deal, however, will come on March 17-18 when the fine details are hammered out at the European Council.

"It's very important for Turkey to first take back all non-Syrian refugees, but that's not enough", said Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, whose country holds the rotating European Union presidency.

"Having in mind a new regime that a European Union (EU) member state implemented, Serbia cannot allow itself to become a collection center for refugees, so it will harmonize all its measures with the EU and implement it reciprocally on its southern and eastern border, towards Macedonia and Bulgaria", reads the press release.

The EU is putting the onus on Greece and Turkey, which is the launchpad for most migrants who cross the sea to the Greek islands and then travel up through the Balkan countries to reach wealthy Germany and Scandinavia.

Despite progress in implementing the November deal with Turkey, the European Union said, too many people were still heading from Turkey to Greece, with almost 2,000 arriving daily in February.

This practically means the closing of the Balkan route, the ministry said.

Syrian refugees struggle to enter Macedonia through a narrow border crossing as Macedonian policemen try to shut a metal gate near to the Greek village of Idomeni December 4, 2015.

The authorities were trying "to convince the refugees that are stuck to go temporarily to welcome centres throughout Greece", the source said.

The German government says that some 61,000 people were registered as asylum-seekers in the country last month - a significant drop compared with January.

According to the press release, this will put an end to the route via which hundreds of thousands of migrants reached Western Europe previous year.

"This is putting into effect what is correct, and that is the end of the "waving through" (of refugees) which attracted so many refugees a year ago and was the wrong approach", Kurz told public television.