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Brussels – Time is running out for Europe to bring its influx of migrants and asylum seekers under control, a top EU official warned on Thursday, amid a heated debate over national measures being taken to curb the number of arrivals.

“In the next 10 days we need tangible and clear results on the ground otherwise . . . there’s a risk that the whole system will completely break down,” EU Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said following talks in Brussels.

His comments come ahead of a special migration summit on March 7 between the European Union and Turkey – the last stop for many migrants before reaching Europe. The 28-country bloc expects steps from Ankara to curb the flows.

“Things are moving in the right direction,” said Dutch Migration Minister Klaas Dijkhoff, whose country holds the EU’s rotating presidency. But more must be done before the change in seasons improves sea conditions between Turkey and Greece, he warned.

“We can’t rest easy and wait until spring comes and then be assured that what has been done already is enough to prevent a spring surge in the influx,” Dijkhoff said.

Failure to deliver results by March 7 would necessitate “other joint co-ordinated European measures,” warned German Interior Thomas de Maiziere, without going into detail. Europe has been struggling to deal with a migration surge that brought more than 1 million people to the continent in 2015. Many are asylum seekers fleeing the war in Syria, but economic migrants have also joined their ranks.

The EU has taken initiatives to secure Greece’s borders and register arrivals, improve co-operation with Turkey and redistribute asylum seekers that have reached European shores.

But implementation is lagging, prompting countries along the migration route to northern Europe to take unilateral measures, partially closing their borders.

The move has led to a backlog of people in Greece and warnings of a humanitarian crisis. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has threatened to block EU decision-making processes if the situation does not improve. – AFP