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News > World

Greece and Austria to Jointly Tackle Refugee Crisis

  • Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras (L) greets Austrian Chancellor Werner Fraymann.

    Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras (L) greets Austrian Chancellor Werner Fraymann. | Photo: Reuters

Published 6 October 2015
Opinion

The Austrian Chancellor and the Greek Prime Minister met in Lesbos Island to discuss how to address the influx of refugees.

The Greek and Austrian governments will increase cooperation to face the ongoing refugee crisis that is affecting the European Union, after Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras met Tuesday in the island of Lesbos.

Both nations have hosted thousands of refugees coming mainly from Syria and Afghanistan, and are backing the European Commission's efforts to establish a quota system for EU member countries.

Tsipras and Faymann visited a refugee center in Mitylene, the island's capital city, where both discussed the importance of EU efforts to deal with the crisis.

“(Europe) needs to open its eyes and its ears,” said Tsipras, shortly after greeting Faymann.

The Austrian official reiterated the previously announced dispatch of 100 employees to assist Greek migration authorities.

Lesbos Island has been one of the main gateways for thousands of migrants, due to its short distance from Turkey.

It is set to host the first EU control posts – together with the Greek North Aegean islands – as agreed by EU member countries.

The post will work as a filter to decide which migrants qualify as refugees and to register them before they enter the Schengen area.

The EU's migration agency Frontex announced last week that it will deploy 775 officials, most of them destined for Italy and Greece, which hold the main entry ports for refugees.

Faymann and Tsipras also visited the port from which the Eleftherios Venizelos ferry boat leaves to Athens, which is used by thousands of refugees to reach the Greek capital.

The Greek government has urged EU countries to cooperate, given that it is struggling to cope with the refugee influx.

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