A total of 703 asylum seekers are to be relocated from the island of Lesvos to several accommodation facilities in the Greek mainland. It is the second wave of decongration of Lesvos, where the number of refugees and migrants has reached 13,000. In recent meetings, the Greek government has decided …
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Mitsotakis meets Erdogan at UN, talk Migration, Cyprus, bilateral issues
Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, held a 45-minute meeting at the UN headquarters in New York on Wednesday morning (local time.) The Greek-Turkish relations, the Cyprus issue, migration flows and the EU-Turkey agreement and other bilateral issues were on the agenda. It was the …
Read More »Police handcuffs, arrests photojournalist Stamatiou during squat evacuation
Greek police has arrested a photojournalist who was covering the evacuation of a squat housing refugees and migrants in Exarchia district of Athens on Monday. Photojournalist of daily Efymerida Ton Syntakton, Alexandros Stamatiou, was handcuffed and taken to the Headquarters of the Greek Police. Police has filed against Stamatiou for …
Read More »Municipality and police “liberate” Exarchia from a container full of books
The operation started as early as 6:30 a.m. apparently while the anarchists were sleeping and could not intervene to defend their “property.” The operation was secret, even though media reporters and cameramen were informed in time. At the same time, Athens municipality workers also removed banners hanging around the square. …
Read More »Greece calls on EU to step up and deal with Migration as arrivals increases
Refugees and migrants flows to the islands of the eastern Aegean Sea continues without break and 694 people arrived on the islands of Lesvos, Chios and Samos between early morning Monday and Tuesday afternoon. According to latest data, 26,000 refugees and migrants are currently hosted on the eastern Aegean islands. …
Read More »German FM Maas:”Great respect” for Greece’s handling of migration
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas expressed his “great respect” for Greece, both for the heavy burden placed upon it during the crisis and for the actions taken by the new government on migration and to speed up the pace of reforms. The German minister made the statement in a joint …
Read More »Golden Dawn MEP and ex MP sentenced for attack on community center
A Golden Dawn member of the European Parliament and a former member of the Greek Palriament were found guilty for the attack at a community center in Ilioupolis suburb of East Athens in 2013. MPE Yannis Laogs and ex MP Nikos Michos received an 8-nonth suspended sentence for instigating the …
Read More »Lesvos: Head of Moria hot spot submits his resignation
The head of the hot spot of Moria on the island of Lesvos submitted his resignation to the political leadership of the Ministry for Citizens’ Protection on Wednesday afternoon. Citing personal reasons, the Manager of the Reception and Identification Center, Ioannis Balbakakis said that he was “tired” and he had …
Read More »Erdogan reloaded: He threatens Europe with 5.5mn Syrian refugees
For a third consecutive time in just a couple of days, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to flood the European Union with 5.5 million Syrian refugees. “If they [EU] don’t help us in this struggle of ours, we will not be able to hinder the 3.5 million refugees in …
Read More »Erdogan to EU: “You either share burden or we open gates to refugees”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reiterated on Saturday his threat to open the border to Europe for Syrian refugees, noting that Ankara alone cannot afford another potential migration flow from Syria. There is a “new migration threat” from the Syrian province of Idlib along the Turkish border, Erdogan said, urging …
Read More »“Bilateral relations are excellent” say PM Mitsotakis, Dutch counterpart Rutte
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Tuesday met with his Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte in The Hague, where the two statesmen confirmed that “bilateral relations are excellent,” in joint statements after their meeting. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said that the two countries were working closely together in the EU, NATO …
Read More »Greece decides to decongest hotspots, change asylum procedures
The mass arrival of migrants and refugees on Lesvos two days ago, alerted the Greek government with Prime Minister Kyrakos Mitsotakis to have called for an urgent meeting of the Government Council for Foreign Affairs and Defence (KYSEA) on Saturday morning. Decongestion of the hotspots on the islands, and especially …
Read More »Urgent action needed in Greece to save refugees’ lives before winter sets in
Ten thousand asylum seekers are now living in cramped conditions in a camp that was designed for 3,500 people. With no proper accommodation or even sleeping bags to face the fast approaching winter, the safety of these desperate people is now at risk”, says Benedicte Giæver, Executive Director of NORCAP. …
Read More »Anarchists respond to squats evacuation with molotov against police, chapel vandalism
A rain of molotov cocktail bombs targeted riot police squads guarding the two evacuated squats in Exarchia district of Athens. It was short after 1 o’ clock on Wednesday morning, when a group of people wearing hoods attacked the police squads with stones and fire bombs. Police fired teargas and …
Read More »France to lend Parthenon metope to Greece for 2021 celebrations
French President Emmanuel Macro has accepted the proposal by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to lend a metope from the Parthenon currently at the Louvre Museum to Greece. The metope that is displayed at the Louvre Museum will be exhibited at the Acropolis Museum in Athens during the 2021 celebrations …
Read More »Forest Fires: Two villages evacuated on Corfu, one hospital on Leros (UPD)
Forest fires are burning on the island of Corfu in the Ionian Sea and on the island of Leros in the Aegean on Friday. Two villages were evacuated on Corfu and the hospital on Leros. Corfu The fire broke out in Kritika by Leykimi and near the villages Nerochori and …
Read More »Decongration of islands, acceleration of asylum procedures is Gov’t priorities
A new ‘corridor’ of refugee and migrants flows has been formed in the last months between Alexandroupolis and Samothrace, in North-East Greece, Deputy Minister for Migration Policy at the Foreign Ministry, Giorgos Koumoutsakos, said in an interview with Kathimerini newspaper. “At the same time, we see a 44-percent increase in …
Read More »Frontex implicated in migrant abuse in Greece Bulgaria, Hungary
New reports place the EU border agency Frontex at scenes of brutality against migrants. The border guards of Greece, Bulgaria and Hungary have been found to be especially brutal. German and British media published reports on Monday that place the European Union border agency Frontex at the scene of illegal …
Read More »Dozens of Greek expats end up as homeless in Australia
Dozens of Greeks left the country seeking a better future in Australia. The modern times “economic migrants” from Europe, however, ended up in the streets of Melbourne as homeless. “As incredible as it may sound in Melbourne, there are Greeks who live on the streets,” reports Australian TV network SBS …
Read More »Labor minister blocks social security AMKA for refugees, non-EU nationals
Labor and Social Affair Minister, Nikos Vroutsis, has cancelled a ministerial decision regarding the issuing of social security number (AMKA) to migrants, refugees, asylum seekers, unaccompanied refugee children and non-EU nationals. The decision, in fact a circular signed by three SYRIZA ministers for Health, Migration and Social Solidarity was issued on …
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