The EU will help Greece face its growing problem with clandestine immigration, Internal Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem said.

“Greece will now be able to benefit concretely of European solidarity in the management of external borders,” Ms Malmstroem said in a statement. A Greek minister said earlier on Sunday his country wants the EU to deploy its immigration patrols on the Greek-Turkish border where a huge inflow of undocumented migrants has been recorded in recent months. “A mass influx is noted daily on the Greek land border with Turkey by third-country nationals attempting to illegally enter the country with the aim of accessing other EU countries,” said the office of Citizen’s Protection Minister Christos Papoutsis, who is responsible for the police.

The Greek government wants the EU to immediately dispatch its “rapid border intervention teams” with support from European border agency Frontex, whose assistance has recently helped stem a similar migration flow by sea.

Ms Malmstroem said she had “immediately activated the mechanism to liaise with Frontex and to communicate among all interested partners, so as to handle this emergency situation in the most expeditious and efficient way”.