Greece blocks asylum applications for one month amid border tensions

Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has blocked any new asylum applications to the country for one month and warned all migrants not to "attempt to enter Greece illegally - you will be turned back."

In a tweet, Mitsotakis said that he would visit the Evros land border with Turkey on Tuesday, along with European Union president Charles Michel, after increasing the country's border security to its highest level.

"The borders of Greece are the external borders of Europe. We will protect them," wrote the PM on Sunday evening.

"Our national security council has taken the decision to increase the level of deterrence at our borders to the maximum."

He added: "Once more, do not attempt to enter Greece illegally - you will be turned back."

Syrian migrants started gathering at the border between Greece and Turkey after the Turkish government declared on Thursday that it would no longer stop Syrian refugees from reaching Europe, as a direct consequence of the killing of 33 Turkish soldiers by Syrian government forces in Syria's Idlib region.

Ankara had reached a deal with the European Union in 2016 after the crossing of nearly a million refugees from the Turkish border to the Greek islands in 2015 sparked a migrant crisis in Europe.

At the weekend Greek officials said they had prevented more than 10,000 migrants crossing the land border with Turkey in one 24-hour period. Some migrants threw stones, metal bars and gas canisters at the border. Border guards retaliated with teargas.

Greek PM Mitsotakis said he had enforced an emergency EU clause "to ensure full European support" of the measure.

"As of now we will not be accepting any new asylum applications for one month," he tweeted.

Mitsotakis met with the country's national security council for early Sunday evening to discuss further security measures.

(CGTN)