Greek Defense Minister and junior coalition partner Panos Kammenos had an unpleasant experience this morning. On a Chinook helicopter and in the company of high-ranking army and migration officials he took off from Athens and set the route to Kos in the Eastern Aegean Sea. The purpose of ANEL-Chairman Kammenos purpose was to inspect the hot spot that the Greek army is supposed to set on the island; one of the 5 registration centers for refugees and migrants on islands of Lesvos, Chios, Samos, Kos and Leros that Greece is obliged to establish in the EU context of “get migration under control or leave Schengen.”
But the residents of Kos did not share Kammenos’ enthusiasm to comply with EU threats and blackmails. They gathered in the airport area and raised banners saying “NO HOT SPOTS on our island.”
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Of course, the residents of Kos do not own the island but I remember to have read a couple of days ago that the area where the hot spot should be established was not owned by the Kos municipality.
Army and police vehicles block protesters
Ιt is a private land plot, the “Kantarzi land plot” in Linopoti that reportedly belongs at 50% to the Greek Church – probably the local Metropolis- and the other 50% is shared by two private persons – most likely ‘inherits’. One of this private owners reportedly does not want to have his share of land plot occupied by the Greek Defense Ministry, the Armey, the registration officials, the refugees and the migrants – Schengen in or Schengen out.
Police has reportedly used teargas to keep the protests within the boundaries of law & order
As the angry Kos residents had surrounded the airport area, the helicopter managed to land after a short trip to nearby island of Leros, but the Defense Minister did not step out of the aircraft.
UPDATE: According to latest information from local media, the Defense Ministry Chinook landed on a different spot than originally planned: in a field with green grass, wild growing bush and grassing cows. The Minister then inspected another land plot that could be suitable for a hot spot.
The adventure of the Greek Defense Minister ended without inspection of the Kos hot spot. The Ministry and the locals have to work out a solution. The Defense Ministry that is in charge of the establishment of the hot spots on the islands had promised to have them ready by 15. February 2016.
PS oh, these local interests…
Hotspot is a stupid German Denglish nonsense and utterly racism
It’s the only thing they could think of, apart from bribing Turkey to stop refugees from reaching Greece.
How is Hotspot a racist word????
And how in the world will those hotspots stop anyone? Theyre meant to register those who already have arrived.
Also can anyone tell me WHY the citizens of Kos are against the hotspots? Is it because they dont want the refugees, is it a knee jerk reaction as in the EU wants it, we dont like EU so were against it, or is there some other kind of reason?
I think if the majority of Kos citizens(whether its a majority is another good question, people protesting doesnt necessarily mean they have majority support for their issue) doesnt want hotspots so be it, just make clear noone is allowed to leave prior to registration.
When 3 month later reality kicks and people there realise there is no way to take care of that many people in need/want an actual solution to the problem we can just tell the how racist they are and well have won (yay!!!) the argument.
Sure it is, hotspot is a volcano short before explosion and here it also means concentration in camps, registering by nationality and taking finger-prints of refugees is also racism.
1000 people got murdered by them because they don’t let’em register in their embassies, 1000 people in 6 months and to let this be unnoticed they stopped counting bodies on Dec 31 and start again on Jan 1 in conspiracy with all their media and parties; also the “leftists”.
last time I allow such a mad comment. do not complain then the ‘internet swallows your comments’.
I think his point is supposed to be that there is no need for Syrians and other refugees ever to come to Greece. They can be registered in Turkey and taken by ship to other EU countries as appropriate — instead of making familes with small children and babies swim for their lives across the Aegean.
Yesterday they started the hydrogen fusion plasma in Greifswald.
Interesting right?
Doesnt have anything to do with your post but what the heck neither does your “reply” in any way connect to what I said.
Reply to Xenos and German Angst comes the way
How about setting up hot spots where locals armed with rifles, pick axes and pitch forks welcome the invaders?
The invader must be repelled with the most utmost brutality and savagery with little survivors so that they may live to warn others not to dare enter the continent.
Will you bring the pitchforks from Germany or will you take revenge on the German government for killing 30000 people in Greece with their austerity.
Refugees have no weapons, so they are no invaders but if they would take up weapons they would stop to be “illegals”, as migration with weapons is called colonization and – big surprise – gets legal then and is called Australia and USA; will you help the European invaders when the Indians send them back, do you boycott Australia and the USA?
Yes, these Golden Dawn types are all talking about attacking unarmed “invaders” [of which 35% are children], but don’t seem interested to take on the Germans. I guess these are the sort who when the Nazis arrived in Greece were very happy to collaborate in damaging their own country. Basically, cowardly scum.
No idea if you heard of but just a few days ago some 15 German Neonazis who wanted to participate in Xrisy Avgi’s annual Imia-march had to defend themselves with Zaziki in a Monastiraki restaurant against a group of citizens who care about history.
After the citizens sent 5 of them to hospital the proud Krauts were shouting “Germany to the Germans – Foreigners out” and most media was first only reporting about “attacked tourists.”
many media reported that they were neo-nazis
By now about 1/3 of those arriving are children. Your comments are so utterly disgusting that they disqualify you from being an enlightened human being that is to be treated with respect. Better to take in the kids and send guys like you to syria since your mindset and value to society is about the same as that of the average isis fighter.
So spiegel is reporting violence between protesters and police on kos.
Theyre also reporting that the reason(as I asked above) for the protesters is that they dont want a hotspot because refugees might ruin tourism/they would prefer the refugees be shipped away immediatly.
Now if this is the reason and not, like I speculated above, general animosity towards compliance with anything EU, then I have no sympathy for those protesters, thats not much different from the pegidas here.
Like I said I would be really interested on the view of the population overall, after all I doubt that either the rescuers or the protesters build a majority of the Kos citizens.
Yes they are frightened of the damage it will do to the Kos tourist industry. And rightly so. They have worked hard to build the Island to the Quality destination that it is, not to see it and their livelihood thrown away by some EU demand that is totally unfair on the islanders.
And none do not sympathize with the plight of the refugees, But they don’t want the short term problem for the refugees to become a long term one for the Island. Most Islanders earn their living from tourism.
THEY DON@T WANT TO BE UNEMPLOYED