Migrant children sit in a shelter near the Tunca River as they wait to resume efforts to enter Europe near the Pazarkule border gate in the city of Edirne, northwest Turkey on Thursday. EU members on Wednesday rejected what they said is Turkey's use of desperate migrants to pressure its neighbors. Photo: AFP

EU members on Wednesday rejected what they said is Turkey's use of desperate migrants to pressure its neighbors - and strongly backed Greece's border crackdown.

In a statement agreed by European interior ministers at a meeting in Brussels, the 27 member states said the "situation at the EU's external borders is not acceptable."

Earlier, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government had denied that it was using the threat of a wave of migrants to "blackmail" the EU.

But the EU statement said the bloc "strongly rejects Turkey's use of migratory pressure for political purposes."

Ankara wants Brussels to step up support for the 3.7 million refugees and migrants that Turkey is already hosting, and back Turkey in its increasingly intense confrontation with the Syrian regime.

But EU members insist Turkey must stick to a previous deal in which Brussels agreed to pay billions of euros in exchange for Turkey preventing refugees and migrants from crossing to Greece. 

"Illegal crossings will not be tolerated," the EU statement said.

"In this regard, the EU and its Member States will take all necessary measures, in accordance with EU and international law."

"Migrants should not be encouraged to endanger their lives by attempting illegal crossings by land or sea."

The European interior ministers urged Turkey to "relay this message and counter the dissemination of false information."

AFP