Erdogan Using Humans as ‘Weapon’ Against EU, Austria’s Kurz Says

(Bloomberg) -- Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of using migrants who are amassed on the Greek border as a “weapon” against the European Union.

“This rush is not an accident, it’s organized,” Kurz told journalists in Vienna. “Those people are used by Erdogan as a playball, as a weapon, to apply pressure on the European Union.”

The European Union must stand united behind Greece, and protect the borders as well as provide humanitarian help, Kurz said.

Kurz said Erdogan “consciously organized” the action, that “buses are provided, migrants are informed, there’s a deliberate attempt to organize this rush on Greece.” The refugees at the border aren’t from Idlib or from other regions in Syria, but have been in Turkey for many years, he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Boris Groendahl in Vienna at bgroendahl@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Chad Thomas at cthomas16@bloomberg.net, Jonathan Tirone

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