Remarks by President Donald Tusk before the summit on migration along the Balkan route

Since the first days of the migration crisis I have had no doubt that the main key to its resolution is restoring effective control of the EU i's external borders. Obviously, an essential precondition for achieving this goal is close cooperation with our partners in the Balkans and in Turkey.

Today we should discuss how to improve the effectiveness of our actions. We need to confirm, politically and in practice, that the Western Balkan route of irregular migration is closed for good. This is why I am happy that Chancellor Kern took the initiative and organised this meeting.