Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Tuesday that a migrant crisis on its borders with Turkey was an asymmetrical threat to the borders of the European Union.
Mitsotakis thanked Greek security forces and civilians for helping repel the incoming migrants.
He said Greece has prevented more than 24,000 attempted illegal entries at the country's border with Turkey, thereby also protecting the EU's external borders.
Mitsotakis said he hoped the crisis would serve as a wake-up call for Europe to assume its responsibilities.
"Europe has not been up to the task of dealing with the migration crisis. I hope this crisis will serve as a wake-up call for everyone to assume their responsibilities," he said.
Amid the growing humanitarian crisis in northwestern Syria's Idlib, more than 1 million civilians amassed near the Turkish border, prompting Ankara to open its borders with the EU to migrants. Turkey, which already hosts some 3.7 million Syrian refugees, more than any country in the world, says it cannot absorb another refugee wave.
The number of migrants leaving Turkey to cross to Greece via its northwestern border in Edirne reached 130,469 as of 9:15 p.m. local time (0615GMT) Tuesday, Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said.
