Austria's interior minister says the Balkan migrant route should remain closed permanently and that the "clock will not be turned back."

Austria's introduction of a refugee cap last month set off a chain reaction of border restrictions that has shut down the route used by hundreds of thousands of people last year to transit from Greece to central Europe. Thousands of migrants are stranded in Greece.

Austrian Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner told German daily Die Welt ahead of a meeting Thursday with her European Union counterparts: "My position is clear — the Balkan route will remain closed, and permanently." She added that "the closure of the Balkan route is going to plan and this clock will not be turned back."