German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called for the Brenner Pass in the Austrian-Italian border to remain open.
Austria has earlier this year reintroduced border control at the internal, Schengen frontier to manage the increased flow of refugees from Italy following the shut down of the Balkan route. In April, Vienna said it plans to build a fence at the crossing.
Merkel said closing down the pass is not a solution.
“It’s not as simple as that,” Merkel said on Friday night at a Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party conference in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, German media reported. “Then Europe is destroyed,” she said.
Merkel stressed again the need to better patrol EU’s external borders, but insisted that the flow of people and goods has to remain free within the Union. If that does not prevail, the chancellor warned, there will be consequences for the EU internal market and the common currency.
“That is, we need to find a reasonable solidarity in Europe — which also takes longer than we thought,” said Merkel, adding that agreements with non-EU — such as the migrant deal between the EU and Turkey — are necessary.
Europe can not stand idly and watch a growing number of refugees drown in the Mediterranean Sea, the chancellor said.