Migration service headless amid fund misuse claims
For the third time since the refugee crisis erupted in 2015, Greece’s reception and identification service is leaderless after Migration Minister Dimitris Vitsas Thursday heralded the dismissal of the current director.
In comments to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency Thursday, Vitsas said that last Tuesday he gave the leader of the service, Andreas Iliopoulos, until Friday morning to resign or be dismissed.
Vitsas’s comments came a day after Iliopoulos alleged in an interview with liberal newspaper Fileleftheros that European Union funds for migration centers were being mismanaged and called for prosecutors to intervene.
Vitsas dismissed the claims as “lies.” Iliopoulos meanwhile told Kathimerini he had no real power.
Separately the Hellenic Red Cross is facing expulsion from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies for reportedly failing to fulfil commitments required to restore its credibility.
