President Tusk: European countries will no longer be a transit point for migrants and refugees

foreign affairs

President Tusk: European countries will no longer be a transit point for migrants and refugees

03/03/201603/03/2016 ENstaff Alexis Tsipras, Donald Tusk, migrants, refugee crisis

European Council President Donald Tusk visited Athens and met with PM Alexis Tsipras.

european union society

UNHCR warns of imminent humanitarian crisis in Greece

02/03/201602/03/2016 ENstaff borders, EU, Europe, Greece, humanitarian crisis, migrants, refugee crisis, UNHCR

UNHCR is urging Greece and States along the Balkans route to act quickly to avert a disaster and approach this emergency in a spirit of solidarity and sharing of responsibility. Safe access to asylum, shelter and basic assistance, and treating people with dignity and respect must remain essential elements of the response.

foreign affairs

President Tusk to visit Western Balkans route countries

29/02/2016 ENstaff EU, Europe, European Council, European Union, migrants, NATO, refugee crisis, Tusk, Western Balkans

President Donald Tusk will travel to Vienna, Ljubljana, Zagreb, Skopje and Athens from the 1st to the 3rd of March to continue building a European consensus on how to handle the migration crisis and to prepare for the summit with Turkey on 7 March and the European Council on 17-18 March.

society

UNHCR, UNICEF launch Blue Dot hubs to boost protection for children and families

26/02/201628/02/2016 ENstaff Balkans, children, Europe, families, migrants, refugee crisis, UNHCR, UNICEF

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and UNICEF are setting up special support centres for children and families along the most frequently used migration routes in Europe.

society

UNHCR’s Grandi warns of critical refugee bottleneck in Greece

25/02/201625/02/2016 ENstaff Balkans, EU, European Union, Grandi, Greece, migrants, refugee crisis, UNHCR

Border closures in the Balkans may create an enormous and potentially critical refugee bottleneck in Greece, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi has warned.

foreign affairs

‘Greece needs support in helping refugees’, UNHCR Grandi says

24/02/201624/02/2016 ENstaff EU, European Union, Grandi, migrants, refugee crisis, Tsipras, UNHCR

“The refugee crisis a global issue. We do not accept unilateral actions,” Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi during a meeting earlier at the Maximos Mansion. “Greece needs support in helping refugees. Sharing responsibility (not closing borders) is the answer,” Grandi stressed.

foreign affairs

Alt FM Xydakis: ‘UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon should pay a visit to Eastern Aegean’

24/02/201624/02/2016 ENstaff Aegean, Ban Ki-moon, Grandi, Greece, migrants, refugee crisis, UNHCR, Xydakis

“It would be of great political significance and highly symbolic if the UN Secretary General himself, Ban Ki-moon, visited the Eastern Aegean, the gateway of the refugee and migrant influx into Europe,” Xydakis stressed during talks with UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi.

society

UNHCR Survey finds Afghan and Syrian refugees arriving to Greece are fleeing conflict and violence

23/02/201623/02/2016 ENstaff Aegean, Afghanistan, borders, Greece, migrants, refugee crisis, refugees, Syria, UNHCR

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.

european union society

Europol launched a European Migrant Smuggling Centre

23/02/201622/02/2016 ENstaff EUROPOL, migrant smuggling, migrants, refugees

The goal of the Centre is to proactively support EU Member States in dismantling criminal networks involved in organised migrant smuggling.

society

FRONTEX: Number of migrants arriving in Greece down by 40%

22/02/201622/02/2016 ENstaff FRONTEX, migrants, refugeecrisis, refugees

According to figures published by FRONTEX, the number of migrants arriving in Greece dropped in January 2016 mainly due to poor weather conditions.

interviews people

Ambassador of Norway:”The challenge for the Greek economy is its competitive edge and its business climate” [interview]

07/06/2016 ENstaff

The Ambassador of Norway in Athens, His Excellency Jørn Eugene Gjelstad, spoke to EmbassyNews.net and commented on the current developments in Greek and European politics, the economy and the refugee crisis.