Greek European Affairs Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis on Monday asked for funding from the European Union budget to build fences at external borders, arguing that physical barriers have reduced the arrival of migrants to Europe, DPA reported.

Varvitsiotis said the European Union should be “frank and open” and admit that “fences are working and they should not be condemned by the European Commission”.

For his part, Germany’s European Affairs Minister Anna Luhrmann said that his country “does not believe in the relevant proposals”, while his Slovenian counterpart Andrej Stanczyk said that more needs to be done to protect the borders of the EU bloc.

According to French Secretary of State for European Affairs Laurence Boon, “EU money also exists to protect external borders.”

EU European affairs ministers are discussing in Brussels the controversial issue of increasing the number of asylum seekers and illegal migrants arriving in the European Union.

In an interview with European Newsroom last week, European Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson opposed the idea, saying fences and walls were not a “good solution” to the migration problem.

In October 2021, 12 EU member states, including Austria, Poland and Hungary, asked the European Commission to finance the construction of physical barriers from the EU budget, but the EU executive rejected the project.

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehhammer brought the issue back to the table in January when he asked for 2 billion euros from the EU budget to expand the border fence between Bulgaria and Turkey. (Agerpress)