More than half a million people have transited through Greece this year, many of them fleeing conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.
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But those passing through Greece on their way toward more prosperous European countries have shown little interest in using Olympic venues from the 2004 Games in Athens that were reopened this month, fearing they might eventually not be allowed to leave.
“From the Commission’s point of view, we are willing to find additional means of supporting those countries which are most exposed to the refugee crisis and Greece is among them”, Dombrovskis told a news conference.
European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker said it was also agreed that the EU’s border agency Frontex would strengthen border management.
Greece saw a rise in migrants reaching its shores last week, with an estimated 10,000 arriving daily on outlying islands, mostly from non-EU Turkey. Meanwhile, many migrants waiting on the islands to be registered are said to be sleeping in the rain due to space restrictions at reception centers.
Officials said Tsipras had initially resisted calls for Greece to greatly expand accommodation for asylum-seekers and accept more border guards from other European Union states.
European leaders lashed out Sunday at one another’s handling of the continent’s greatest migration crisis since World War II, even as they came together to seek ways to ease the plight of the tens of thousands marching across the Balkans toward the European Union’s heartland.
Mouzalas said that Greece could start relocating a small number of migrants to Luxembourg in the middle of next month.
In statements to the press following a first series of meetings with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos and other officials, Dombronvskis underlined the Commission’s willingness to further support Greece in achieving its goals to the benefit of the entire European Union, as well as the necessity to push ahead with an “ambitious program” of reforms with no more delays.
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On the agenda of discussions on Monday was also the issue of the recapitalization of Greece’s banking system that is expected to be concluded after the bailout review.
