The European Union must help Greece manage its border with Turkey and ensure the right to asylum for those who need it, several members of the European Parliament (MEPs) said on Tuesday.

Turkey "clearly bears the responsibility for leading desperate people to an impasse," German State Secretary and government spokesman Steffen Seibert said on Monday, commenting on the thousands of migrants who are trying to enter Greece after Turkey opened its borders and encouraged them to cross at the Evros region borders.

A landmark agreement signed between Turkey and the European Union in 2016 to curb irregular migration into the bloc via Greece has collapsed because of Ankara's tactics, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told CNN in an interview late on Friday.