3 March 2020

EU backs Athens’ efforts to prevent refugees from crossing the Turkish-Greek border

The presidents of the European Council, the European Commission and the European Parliament showed their support to Greece on the management of the unfolding refugee crisis at the Greek-Turkish border in an official trip on 3 March. The three representatives visited the border region of Evros, in northwest Greece, after recent clashes between the police and refugees trying to reach Greek soil. Tensions have arisen since the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that he was opening the borders with the EU as a result of escalation in the Syrian region of Idlib. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), there are now more than 13,000 people waiting to cross the Turkish-Greek border. Crossed criticisms between Athens and Ankara grew as Erdogan said that Greek soldiers had killed two migrants and wounded a third one, an extent that was immediately denied by the Greek Government Spokesman Stelios Petsas. During the visit, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen stated that “our first priority is making sure that order is maintained at the Greek external border, which is also a European border”. To this aim, Frontex will deploy a Rapid Border Intervention Team and the European Commission will provide €700 million in financial assistance to Greece. The EU support will be completed with the HR/VP Josep Borrell visit to Ankara to hold talks on the situation of Syrian refugees in Turkey.

 

 

 

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