Speaking to reporters working for European newspapers in Brussels on Wednesday, Tusk said: "It is often said that we must be open to Syrian refugees. But these are only 30 percent of the inflow. Seventy percent are [economic] migrants. Also for this reason we need more effective controls."
"We can and should hold migrants for as long as needed until the verification is complete," Tusk was quoted as saying by Germany`s Sueddeutsche Zeitung.
In apparent defiance of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has so far been open towards accepting hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees, Tusk said the priority should be to protect the external borders of the European Union.
Nearly 64 percent of people crossing from Turkey into the EU via the Greek islands by October this year were Syrians, according to the International Organisation for Migration.
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