Flemish-nationalist leader Bart De Wever | Olivier Hoslet/EPA Flemish-nationalist leader wants to close door to refugees Europe should evolve towards a Canadian migration model, Bart De Wever said.

The leader of Belgium's largest political party, Bart De Wever, Sunday called for an EU asylum policy based on closed borders and the return of asylum-seekers to "safe" countries, effectively shutting off Europe to war refugees.

"We have to conduct a resettlement policy only, like Canada, and stop the free movement of people who can just choose a country as soon as they pass the [external] border [of Europe]," De Wever, the president of the Flemish-nationalist N-VA party, said in a TV debate Sunday.

De Wever said refugees should first and foremost be protected by safe third countries in the region, such as Turkey. "We have to evolve towards a Europe where asylum is no longer possible. Safe reception in [refugees'] own region is what we have to invest in."

He defended the deal in the making between the EU and Turkey, saying it was the only option left after months of hesitation by national leaders.

"We should have closed the borders from the start and done push-backs," he said, defending a much-criticized practice to forcibly send back boats and people crossing borders without processing their asylum claims. "What's positive is that push-back policy is now turning into a European policy and that Syrians, the real war refugees, are the only ones that can pass."

Resettlement policy should replace Europe's current system, De Wever said. Instead of refugees finding their way to Europe, Europe should — like the U.S. and Canada — restrict access to refugees selected in foreign countries and flown over to European states.

"The political support for migration has vanished in Europe," he said. "The extreme-right is on the rise everywhere. You can't stick to policies that your whole public opposes."

De Wever, who is also the mayor of Antwerp, is considered Belgium's most powerful politician. The N-VA is the largest party in the four-party coalition government. The country's asylum and migration portfolio is held by national State Secretary Theo Francken, an N-VA member and one of De Wever's protégés.