Germany sought on Sunday support for its plans for an EU quota system for rescued migrants, warning that it could soon entangle in a refugee crisis bigger than the one it faced in 2015. 

Interior Minister Horst Seehofer called for more help to be given to European partners with controls at the EU's external borders during a visit to Greece, saying they have been left alone for too long.

He told Germany's Bild am Sonntag (BamS) newspaper that the EU could see a refugee wave, like in 2015 – "maybe even greater."

The story of the recent past

Europe saw an influx of migrants from Africa and the Middle East in 2015. The crisis left European politics fragmented and triggered the rise of nationalism in many EU countries. Anti-immigration leaders have been quoting the problem to gain support during EU elections.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced an open-door policy that resulted in her poor performance in the 2017 elections and weakened her position. 

It paved the way for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) to rare election success in 2017 that took them to parliament.

What did change? 

The number of migrants crossing into Europe has plunged since 2015 but it remains a challenge.

According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 36,582 new migrants arrived in Greece by mid-September 2019, including 4,393 unaccompanied minors. 

Despite the dwindling numbers, Seehofer's comments hint at an alarming situation.  

"If we as the EU do not have the strength to solve the problem, then we will face what we experienced in 2015 – that was loss of control," he said in what the BamS called "a dramatic appeal." 

He called for support for Turkey, with whom EU struck a deal in 2016, in another interview with Germany's the Welt am Sonntag newspaper, saying the EU must do more to assist Turkey in dealing with the millions of refugees that entered the country after the Syrian War in 2011.

The EU agreed to give Turkey six billion euros (6.59 billion U.S. dollars) in aid for Syrian refugee projects. Ankara, however, has been accused of not sticking to the deal.

But that is not the only problem. According to the agreement, Turkey needs to take back asylum seekers after they have gone through a registration and asylum procedure in Greece. This is where the problem lies, according to experts quoted by BamS.

There are only 19 judges in Greece who could process such cases, that makes the procedures often unnecessarily protracted, they said.

Germany's interior minister, however, signaled help for Greece by giving training to staff dealing with refugee cases, as well as providing experts for the electronic processing of data, and coastal protection.

Seehofer, also a member of the conservative CSU party, was one of the most critical voices in the German government toward Angela Merkel's decision to open the country's borders in 2015. But he now said he has her full support.