EU risks falling like Roman Empire

Europe risks collapsing like the Roman Empire over the refugee crisis, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has warned according to the Financial Times, as his country gears up to be the next EU president.

Hundreds of thousands of people fleeing war and poverty mainly in the Middle East and Africa have landed on European shores in recent months, straining ties between the 28 members of the European Union.

"The first step is to make sure the border is controlled. As we all know from the Roman Empire, big empires go down if the borders are not well protected," Rutte said, quoted by the Financial Times late Thursday.

Rutte was speaking to a small group of reporters invited to travel from Brussels to his office in The Hague as the Netherlands prepares to takes over the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union on January 1.

The Dutch government has made the refugee crisis one of the top priorities of its presidency.

"We need to stem the flow of migrants coming to Europe. We can't continue at the present level," Rutte added in the interview, according to the online EUObserver daily.

Some 850,000 people have entered the European Union this year, more than half of them landing in Greece, in what has become Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War II.

His remarks came hot on the heels of a warning Friday by Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem that a small group of EU countries could be forced to form a "mini-Schengen" if the bloc failed to resolve its migrant crisis.

Meanwhile, at least six children drowned yesterday in two separate incidents when their boats sank off Turkey while trying to make the risky crossing to Greece, Turkey state media reported.

Both the boats capsized because of heavy rains and stormy weather, it added.