UNHCR’s Grandi warns of critical refugee bottleneck in Greece
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.
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refugee crisis
Foreign Ministry recalls Greek Ambassador to Vienna for consultations
By decision of Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias, Greece’s Ambassador to Vienna, Ms. Aliferi, is being called to Athens for consultations aimed at safeguarding the friendly relations between the states and peoples of Greece and Austria.
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‘Greece needs support in helping refugees’, UNHCR Grandi says
“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.
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Norwegian minister Elisabeth Aspaker visits Foreign Ministry
Norwegian Minister for the European Economic Area and European Affairs, Elisabeth Aspaker met yesterday with her Greek counterpart Nikos Xydakis at the Foreign Ministry. The meeting between the two Ministers was carried out within the framework of Aspaker’s scheduled visit to Greece at the Foreign Ministry.
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Alt FM Xydakis: ‘UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon should pay a visit to Eastern Aegean’
“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.
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UNHCR Grandi concerned at reports of Balkan border closures
Europe is backing into an even greater refugee crisis by tightening border restrictions on the hundreds of thousands who have fled war and conflict in Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and other countries, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi said.
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Refugees: EU-NATO coordination set to deepen, say Mogherini and Stoltenberg
EU and NATO coordination has started to tackle the refugee crisis and will be further deepened, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told MEPs and national MPs in the Foreign Affairs Committee.
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UNHCR Survey finds Afghan and Syrian refugees arriving to Greece are fleeing conflict and violence
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 to visit Greece
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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Ambassador of South Africa: “Greece is dealing with the refugee crisis in a humane way” [interview]
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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