Austria is ready to support countries on the migrant route in order to reduce their influx, Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz said after meeting Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic on Tuesday.

Kurz arrived on Tuesday in Belgrade and met with Vucic and the his Serbian counterpart Ivica Dacic in separate meetings to talk about the upcoming wave of refugees from Syria, Middle East and Africa passing through Serbia on their way to Western Europe, and inform them on restrictions Austria recently adopted.

He said that he wished to inform the government of Serbia that Austria will receive only 37,500 migrants this year and that this might have an impact on countries along the Balkan route.

At a press conference Kurz said that Austria received 90,000 migrants last year, but "this year we cannot have so many migrants and this is why our government decided to make limitations in number of migrants we can accept".

"Yesterday in Bosnia and Herzegovina and today in Serbia it was important for me to inform governments that the situation is likely to change, but that we are also willing to support governments in order to reduce the wave," he said, adding that besides national measures, Austria wishes to cooperate with other countries along the so-called Balkan route.

Kurz explained that Austria plans to stop migrants at the Greek-Macedonian border, where it plans to send a certain number of soldiers and police officers, expecting this will prevent migrant's decision to start their journey in the first place.

Vucic said Serbia will take active part in solving the migratory crisis by securing its borders, sending reinforcements to the border between Greece and Macedonia as well as agreeing to quota system for distributing migrants, but will not put its own economy at risk because of migrants.

He said that Austria allocated 2 billion euros for 90,000 migrants it has accepted, but that Serbia would not be able to survive a similar situation.

Dacic said after the meeting with Kurz that Serbia will close its border with Macedonia for migrants if other countries on the Balkan route close their borders too.

"It is important that all countries are mutually informed about the migratory issue so that there are no surprises," Dacic said at the press conference, stressing the need for a foreseeable migration policy.

According to the latest government information, more than 700,000 people last year passed along the Balkans route on their way to Western Europe. Endit

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