A threat to throw Greece out of the border-free Schengen area of the European Union was diverted at the last minute when Athens agreed to request help to manage refugees at their borders.
Advertisement
Nikos Xydakis stated on Friday that Greece had been “persistently” asking for technical help and manpower since May to tackle the arrival of more than 700,000 people who have passed through the country since January. Member states have so far offered 447 officers, the agency said on Friday. Arriving from Turkey on the Greek Aegean islands, the people try to reach countries in northern and western Europe by travelling through mainland Greece and the Western Balkan countries.
The commission’s Emergency Response Co-ordination Centre is working with Greek authorities and other countries to deliver tents, electricity generators, beds, sanitary equipment, and first aid kits, with 85% of the cost being paid by the commission.
Over 50,000 migrants and refugees have arrived in Greece since 1 November.
The government says it won’t be kicked out of the EU’s passport-free travel zone.
A Moroccan was electrocuted to death on the Greek-Macedonian border on Thursday in the second straight day of clashes between police and migrants stranded on the Greek side for weeks.
In the meantime, the United States will be giving $24 million in new money to help refugees as the European winter approaches.
The U.S. has provided $4.5 billion in humanitarian assistance since the start of Syria’s civil war in 2011.
“The Commission should put forward a proposal… which has the goal of when a national state is not effectively fulfilling its duty of defending the external border, then that can be taken over by Frontex”, Mr de Maiziere told reporters. The mechanism was activated by Hungary and Serbia in September.
European Union diplomats said the proposals to bolster defence of the external Schengen frontiers would look at whether the European Union must rely on an invitation from the state concerned.
Asked by The World Weekly about the likelihood of suspension, EU Commission spokeswoman Tove Ernst said: “The Commission is not in the habit of commenting on rumours”.
Other EU states had been piling pressure on Greece to accept help for registering migrants trying to head north across the Balkans towards Germany and other wealthy states, and had wanted to see a deal by the time interior ministers meet in Brussels on Friday to review efforts to stem migration flows.
Macedonia has erected a metal fence to keep others out and plans to extend it to cover more than 25 miles of the border, an intelligence source who described the area as “high risk” said on condition of anonymity.
Advertisement
Austrian Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner said: “Greece is finally taking responsibility for guarding the external European border. This is an important step in the right direction”.
