European Union leader agreed on Tuesday to close the union’s external borders for a month in order to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. Movement within European Union member nations will be still be allowed. At the same time, EU leaders will work for repatriation of EU citizens stranded …
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EU and Greece offer €2,000 for voluntary return of 5,000 migrants
European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson and Migration and Asylum Minister Notis Mitarakis announced the creation of a temporary mechanism for the voluntary return of 5,000 migrants from the Greek islands to their countries of origin. The mechanism will be temporary, lasting only one month, and will offer the …
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Coronavirus: Trump suspends travel from Schengen countries to US
US President Donald Trump has announced sweeping new travel restrictions on Europe in a bid to combat the spread of the coronavirus. But he said the “strong but necessary” restrictions would not apply to the UK, which has 460 cases of the virus. “We will be suspending all travel from …
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Erdogan accuses Greece of “Nazi practices against asylum seekers”
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Greece of “Nazi practices against refugees” at the border and “violations of their human rights.” It is the second time, Erdogan refers to the practices of the Nazi Germany. A few days ago, he had claimed that what Greece does at the border was …
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Erdogan calls Migration Summit in Istanbul, claims Greece “killed 4-5 migrants”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that he has invited a few European leaders for a Migration Summit in Istanbul. At the same time, he claimed that Greek security forces have “killed 4 or 5” migrants. Speaking to journalists on his way back from Brussels where he met with top …
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Erdogan meeting with EU top officials ended without commitments on both sides
The meeting of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with the presidents of the European Commission and the European Council apparently did not go off according to his expectations. When the meeting concluded late on Monday, Erdogan left without any press conference or any statements to his own reporters. Officials from …
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Turkey stops migrants from Aegean crossing before Erdogan heads to Brussels
Turkey stopped allowing migrants to cross the Aegean Sea to go to Europe, the Turkish Coast Guard said in a statement issued late on Friday. The decision was reportedly taken by him, himself the President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and sealed with a presidential order. Interesting to note is that Erdogan …
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Just 4 EU states willing to accept “unaccompanied minors” from Greece
Only four EU member-states are willing to accept unaccompanied refugee minors from Greece. Germany said it will only do so under the precondition that also other member-states will join the action. Four members states said that they will relocate unaccompanied children from Greece to their countries, Alternate Migration and Asylum …
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EU Interior Ministers Council calls on Turkey to implement 2016 deal
The Council of the Interior Ministers of the European Union has expressed solidarity with Greece and called on Turkey to fully implement the provisions of the 2016 EU-Turkey deal on Migration. It also strongly rejects Turkey’s use of migratory pressure for political purposes. The Council conveyed on Wednesday following a …
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Over 75 NGOs demand EU’s support at Greek border, islands decongestion
In an open letter to European Commission, European Council and heads of member states, over 70 NGOs demand EU support at Greek Border. They call for immediate action for the decongestion of the Aegean Islands following escalating violence and worsening humanitarian conditions for asylum seekers. 75 NGOs have now signed …
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Erdogan reiterates “Turkey won’t close its gates to Europe anymore”
It is too late for Turkey to close its borders for migrants to cross into Europe, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday, as he criticized European countries for ignoring Turkey’s calls to respond to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in northwestern Syria, Turkish media report. Erdogan said that calls from European …
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Greece upgrades border security to Maximum, suspends Asylum, calls Turkey “a trafficker”
Greece has decided to suspend asylum for a month and to activate a series of EU and Frontext mechanisms to protect her land and sea borders, while thousands of migrants are pushing their way to the country in Evros and the Aegean islands. “Turkey has become a trafficker itself,” government …
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Erdogan says he “will keep doors open,” expects 30K migrants at Greek border
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey will continue to allow migrants it hosts to freely pass to Europe.He claimed he expects their numbers at the borders to reach 30,000 on Saturday. “What did we do yesterday… We opened the doors,” Erdogan said in Istanbul on Saturday, adding “We will …
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Clause in EU-UK trade deal is not linked to Return of Parthenon Marbles
Greece managed to add a clause for the return of Parthenon Marbles into the EU-UK deal? That was a premature joy and a big disappointment two days later. Not only the clause has nothing to do with the Greek antiquities stolen by Lord Elgin, Greece distanced itself from the issue …
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Parthenon Marbles Return clause added in EU-UK trade deal
Greece has apparently managed to get a clause for the return of the Parthenon Marbles in the draft Brexit bill prepared by the European Union. The clause is included in a revised version of the negotiating mandate that Michel Barnier, the European Commission’s Head of Task Force for Relations with …
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Greek olive oil, wines, other products exempted from US tariffs imposed on EU
Greek olive oil, olive products, cheese, wines and related export products remain exempted from the US tariffs on European Union products. Apart from these products, plum juice was excluded from the list of duties. On February 15, the US Department of Commerce renewed Greece’s exemption from US tariffs on the …
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EU foreign ministers agree on new mission to enforce Libya arms embargo
EU foreign ministers announced on Monday a new operation in the Mediterranean Sea to enforce uphold a United nations arms embargo on Libya that is routinely flouted. The foreign ministers said on Monday that they have agreed to launch a new mission in the Mediterranean Sea to enforce a United …
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Macron opens door to North Macedonia, Albania EU accession talks
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday he would allow North Macedonia and Albania to begin talks on joining the European Union if the bloc’s executive gave them a positive review next month. Macron’s comments at the Munich Security Conference look set to end his freeze on the two Balkan …
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Greece to register “Gyros” as Protected Product before competitors grab it
Pieces of spiced pork meat are stacked on each other on a spit. The meat mountain is slowly grilled on a vertical rotisserie, then sliced into paper-thin bites. This is Gyros, the Greek delicacy served wrapped in pita bread together with tomatoes, onions and tzatziki sauce. But Gyros has competitors: …
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Outbreak of African Swine Fever in Greece concerns the EU
An outbreak of African Swine Fever, an infectious disease which is usually deadly for pigs but harmless to humans, in the north-east of Greece, has added another headache to EU policymakers in Brussels. Infected by the infectious disease were some 30 animals in a small farm in Serres, Northern Greece. …
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