Relentless tide of migrants causes clashes among EU members

AMSTERDAM — European Union nations took a step Monday toward isolating Greece amid acrimony over Athens’ failure to stem the flow of migrants at its Mediterranean island borders.

The member states “gave a clear signal” that if they can’t stop the migrants reaching Greece, they would consider helping Greece’s neighbor Macedonia to better seal its border to slow the movement of migrants into other European countries, said Dutch State Secretary Klaas Dijkhoff.

Greek Immigration Minister Ioannis Mouzalas conceded his country was struggling to cope with the flow, but blamed EU member states for failing to provide enough manpower and boats to patrol Aegean Sea islands just a few miles from Turkey’s coast and not honoring pledges to relocate migrants.

Ministers arriving for the meeting at Amsterdam’s Maritime Museum were met by protesters in two boats, one full of mannequins wearing red life vests similar to those worn by migrants crossing from Turkey and another with a large sign saying: Leaders of Europe, it’s not the polls you should worry about.