A UNHCR survey found that some 94% of Syrians arriving in Greece in January made the perilous journey by sea to escape conflict and violence in Syria. Similarly, 71% of the Afghans surveyed cited conflict and violence as the main reason they left their country.
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UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi will conduct his first official visit to Greece on 23 and 24 February 2016; he will visit Athens and Lesvos and is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and other members of his Cabinet.
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The Ambassador of South Africa, H.E. Marthinus Christoffel Johannes Van Schalkwyk, spoke to EmbassyNews.net about the strong economic and cultural ties between the two countries and commented on Greece’s stance towards the refugee crisis: “We are looking at the situation with sympathy. So far the Greek government has not gone to the extreme and that is a good sign”.
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Deputy Foreign Minister for International Economic Relations, Dimitris Mardas, accompanied by the CEO of Enterprise Greece and executives of the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (HRADF), was in Paris on 17 and 18 February for meetings with French officials and entrepreneurs.
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EUROPEAN COUNCIL: “In response to the migration crisis facing the EU, the objective must be to rapidly stem the flows, protect our external borders, reduce illegal migration and safeguard the integrity of the Schengen area.”
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Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias, in statements after a meeting yesterday with his Italian counterpart Paolo Gentiloni said: “Today, Europe needs more Europe… more unification”. Gentiloni stressed: “what we want to see from the European Union on the refugee issue in the coming weeks and months [is] a strong commitment…”
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A delegation of the Nordic Embassies in Athens visited the Greek border with FYROM in Idomeni.
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Nationality-based restrictions at the border between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia are preventing asylum seekers from reaching countries where they want to lodge protection claims – Human Rights Watch.
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Thomsen: “No amount of pension reforms will make Greece’s debt sustainable without debt relief, and no amount of debt relief will make Greece’s pension system sustainable without pension reforms. Both need to come about.”
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“Progress has been achieved on important issues, but further work is still needed in a number of areas,” the head of the Eurogroup Jeroen Dijsselbloem told a news conference at the end of a meeting of Eurozone finance ministers in Brussels.
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