(Politico) Athens wants to expand a migration deal with Turkey, Greek Interior Minister Dimitrios Kairidis said. The European Union reached the contentious agreement with Turkey at the peak of the migration crisis in March 2016. It foresaw that all undocumented migrants arriving […]
(AP) More than 450 migrants reached Greece’s Aegean Sea islands in boats from Turkey in less than two days, Greek authorities said Thursday, including 51 people who made landfall on the high-end resort of Mykonos. The new arrivals come amid a steady […]
(Politico) Greece wants the EU to stop migrant boats before they even get to Europe. In an interview with POLITICO, newly appointed Greek Migration Minister Dimitris Kairidis called on the EU to resume an operation that aims to halt migrants before leaving […]
(Kathimerini) Greek officials said Friday that Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis never discussed issues that concern Greek citizens or the country’s sovereign rights with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The officials were responding to claims by Erdogan that the “problems of Western Thrace” […]
(Kathimerini) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has claimed that the “problems of Western Thrace” was the “main issue” he raised with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at their meeting on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Vilnius on Wednesday. “We want to […]
(Reuters) Greece should not be burdened with the task of managing migration for the European Union, or be accused of not saving people at sea, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Monday, a month after a deadly shipwreck. The Greek coast guard […]
(Kathimerini) SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance President Alexis Tsipras accused New Democracy leader and prime minister at the time Kyriakos Mitsotakis of lying and saying that he informed him before the election about alleged machinations of the Turkish consulate in the region of Rhodope in […]
(Kathimerini) Leftist leader Alexis Tsipras has met with Greece’s interim Prime Minister Ioannis Sarmas amid the confrontation between SYRIZA and New Democracy over the Muslim minority in the northern Thrace region. Conservative officials have alleged that the May 21 election result in […]
(Kathimerini) SYRIZA has accused New Democracy of “blatantly underestimating the democratic vote of members of the Muslim minority” in Thrace after New Democracy said that two of SYRIZA’s MPs elected in the last election in the northeastern region were exponents of “the […]
(Politico) EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson criticized Greece for reportedly forcing migrants onto an emergency raft and abandoning them in the Aegean Sea. In an interview with POLITICO, Johansson said the episode was more than a pushback — when migrants are […]
(Politico) The EU called Monday on Greece to investigate allegations that it is abandoning migrants at sea amid concerns that the center-right government in Athens is violating EU law. The EU’s executive urged Greece to launch a probe into alleged illegal migrant […]
(AFP) Greece’s government came under pressure over its migration policies Friday after video footage emerged allegedly showing Greek coastguards expelling migrants by setting them adrift in the Aegean Sea. The footage, published by the New York Times, has sparked calls by the […]
(Politico) Greek voters will decide Sunday whether to harden the country’s line on migration by extending a border wall with Turkey, or elect the left-wing opposition Syriza party which has adopted a softer stance on the issue. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has […]
(AP) Greece’s prime minister promised Friday to extend an existing wall across all of the country’s land border with Turkey as he campaigned for the country’s general election. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who called the May 21 election earlier this week, presided […]
(Kathimerini) Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Thursday a fence being constructed at Greece’s northeastern border region of Evros will be completed “with or without European money.” “Tomorrow I will be in Evros and I will have the opportunity to sign the […]
(AFP) Iran’s embassy in Greece on Wednesday denied any connection to an alleged plot for anti-Semitic attacks in Athens using Pakistanis of Iranian origin. “The embassy of the Republic of Iran strongly denies the rumours spread by Zionist sources and their baseless […]
(AFP) Hundreds of refugees protested against Greece’s tough migration policies in Athens on Saturday, accusing the conservative government of “murdering” asylum seekers through illegal pushbacks. “Stop pushbacks, down with the government of murderers,” read one of the banners at the rally in […]
(AP) Greece will gradually extend a fence along its land border with Turkey and increase surveillance measures following an increase in illegal immigration from its eastern neighbor, the Greek government said Tuesday. The decision was taken during a meeting, chaired by Prime […]
(AP) Germany’s top diplomat visited refugees at a camp in Greece on Thursday after stressing that European Union countries should do more to safeguard people seeking refuge from war and hardship. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock visited a Holocaust memorial in Athens […]
(Anadolu) The European Union’s border agency, Frontex, has deliberately and systematically cooperated with Greece in illegal pushbacks of asylum seekers to Turkish waters, a German magazine reported Thursday. Findings of an investigation by OLAF, the bloc’s anti-fraud agency, on the dimension of […]
(AP) French presidential candidate Valerie Pecresse stressed the need for strong European borders Friday, during a visit to Greece that will also see her visit a camp for asylum seekers on an Aegean island used by migrants to enter Europe from neighboring […]
(AFP) Pope Francis on Saturday blamed the EU’s nationalist divisions for a lack of coordination on migration as he began a landmark trip to Greece, aiming to improve complicated relations with the country’s Orthodox Church. Francis said that Europe was “torn by […]
(AP) Greece accused Turkey on Tuesday of acting like a “pirate” in waters between the two regional rivals, claiming that its coast guard escorted and tried to push into Greek waters a boat of migrants who were trying to illegally reach Greece. […]
(Reuters) Greece will not allow a repeat of the 2015 migration crisis to unfold on its borders following the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Friday after visiting a new migrant camp on an island near Turkey. The […]
(AP) Greece’s prime minister says he is “unapologetic about defending” Greece’s borders in the face of uncontrolled migration attempts, but insists his country is doing so in a manner that respects human rights. Greece has come under strong criticism from rights groups, […]
(Reuters) Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Friday Turkey was an important partner in tackling any new migration challenge to Europe and needed support, and that Europe itself has not delivered on a common policy in addressing the migrant issue. More […]
(AP) Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has promised to “break and smash” the human trafficking networks that smuggle migrants across the border from Turkey. Mitsotakis, in a news conference Sunday following his Saturday keynote speech at the Thessaloniki International Fair, also said, […]
(Politico) In Greece, officials are swiftly erecting patrol units and surveillance systems to intercept any Afghans crossing into the EU — and they say the EU should help foot the bill. Officials back in Brussels have refused, insisting any payments must be […]
(AP) From above, the new border wall separating Turkey from Iran looks like a white snake winding through the barren hills. So far it only covers a third of the 540-kilometer (335-mile) border, leaving plenty of gaps for migrants to slip across […]
(AP) The European Union should assist Afghans in Afghanistan and in neighboring countries to avoid a new migration wave, Turkey’s president told Greece’s prime minister in a telephone call Friday. Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Greece’s Kyriakos Mitsotakis discussed developments in Afghanistan in […]
(AFP) Tchinda said the longed-for destination of his risky Aegean crossing — the island of Kos — was already tantalisingly in view when Greek vessels halted the boat he was sailing in along with 30 other migrants. “First a navy ship blocked […]
(AFP) Amnesty International on Tuesday accused Greek authorities of the “torture, ill-treatment and illegal pushbacks” of refugees and migrants to Turkey, arguing that the practice had become “de facto” border policy. In a new report, the rights group described 21 incidents it […]
(Kathimerini) Greece’s foreign ministry reacted strongly Sunday to repeated statements by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu referring to a “Turkish minority” during his Sunday visit to Thrace by accusing him of repeatedly distorting reality. Cavusoglu, who has arrived in Athens, visited earlier […]
(AP) Greece’s prime minister says Europe should be “very, very strict” when dealing with countries that he said are seeking to use migrants and refugees as a means of pressuring the European Union. Speaking Friday during a meeting in Athens with the […]
(AP) The European Union’s home affairs commissioner was meeting Tuesday with Greece’s prime minister and foreign minister, a day after touring two of the eastern islands in the Aegean Sea most heavily affected by migration into Europe. The EU is currently working […]
(AFP) The European Union said on Monday that Turkey must “urgently” resume accepting migrants from Greece, where thousands are being held in camps, days before EU chiefs are to visit Ankara. Greece, which has also been seeking support from EU allies in […]
(AP) The interior ministers of the five Mediterranean countries on the front line of mass migration to Europe want their EU partners to share the burden more equitably. “We can no longer be punished for our geographical position,” Malta’s Byron Camilleri said […]
(Kathimerini) A total of 116 refugees from Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq, including 30 families with children, departed from the island of Lesvos on a charter flight to Hannover in Germany on Wednesday morning. It was the first direct flight from an Aegean […]
(AFP) It can be months or even years before the thousands of migrants waiting in camps on Greek islands or on the mainland finally receive the prize they crave: asylum. Omar Singh, a young man from Burkina Faso, arrived on the island […]
(AP) Greece’s government says it has finalized plans to build a wall along its northeast border with Turkey, over concerns that migrants may try to stage mass crossings into the European Union country. Government spokesman Stelios Petsas said Monday that 26 kilometers […]
(AFP) Greece’s government has cautiously welcomed a plan from Brussels to reform the EU’s shaky asylum system, but charity groups working with refugees on the ground have blasted a continued “outrageous containment policy.” The “New Pact on Migration and Asylum” was unveiled […]
(AFP) The UN refugee agency on Friday warned Greece that a new camp on Lesbos island hastily built to house thousands of migrants left homeless by a fire last week can only be temporary. “This new site is currently functioning as an […]
(AFP) Six young Afghan men including two minors will face a prosecutor on Greece’s Lesbos island Wednesday on suspicion of setting fires that destroyed Europe’s largest migrant camp last week. The suspects, aged 20 and below, are to be arraigned after midday, […]
(Reuters) Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called on Tuesday for “tangible solidarity” from the European Union in tackling the migrant crisis and tensions with Turkey in the east Mediterranean region. A fire destroyed Greece’s biggest refugee camp last week on the island […]
(AFP) Germany said Tuesday it will take in more than 1,500 refugees from Greece on top of the 150 unaccompanied minors whose camp burned down on the island of Lesbos as Berlin tried to rally a fresh EU response to a years-long […]
(AFP) Greece on Monday accused migrants of deliberately burning their overcrowded camp last week on Lesbos island, where hundreds reluctantly moved to a new temporary site with “no showers or mattresses.” Families, children, young men and pregnant women have been left wandering […]
(AFP) Greece said Sunday it hoped thousands of asylum seekers left homeless by fires at Europe’s largest migrant camp could be rehoused within a week to end a crisis that has seen protesters clash with police. Asylum-seekers — including the elderly and […]
(AFP) Greek riot police fired tear gas at protesting asylum-seekers on the island of Lesbos Saturday, as thousands demanded help after being left homeless by fires that destroyed Europe’s largest migrant camp. Asylum-seekers — including the elderly and very young children — […]
(AFP) Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Friday demanded more “active” participation from the EU in housing thousands of migrants on the island of Lesbos, as he said Athens will rebuild a notoriously overcrowded camp destroyed by fire. “A new facility will […]
(AP) Greek authorities have prevented thousands of migrants from entering Greece clandestinely by sea this year despite a recent lack of cooperation from the Turkish coast guard, the country’s shipping minister said Wednesday. Giannis Plakiotakis, whose ministry is also in charge of […]
Thank you for reading Eye on Islamism.