Gov’t seeks alliances as arrivals in Evros rise
As the number of migrants arriving in Greece from neighboring Turkey rises, government officials are scrambling for alliances to help the government tackle a possible resurgence of the European refugee crisis.
With scores of people arriving on the islands of the eastern Aegean every day, state-run facilities are already filled beyond capacity and there are fears of tensions escalating as thousands of frustrated migrants wait for news of their fate.
According to sources, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is intent on forging a regional alliance to support Greece’s position on the migration crisis at a meeting of European socialist heads of state scheduled to take place in Paris on Thursday.
The Greek premier’s aim is then to hold a subsequent meeting in Athens, probably on September 9, to discuss both the migration issue and Greece’s demand for relief of its huge debt burden.
Meanwhile, as activity in the Aegean increases, sources have indicated that arrivals via the land border with Turkey have also risen.
The head of Greece’s border guards in the prefecture of Evros, Chrysovalantis Gialamas, told Kathimerini that he feared the collapse of a migrant deal between the European Union and Ankara.
“Then thousands of people will start arriving in Evros as they can approach the [land] borders more easily and things will get much tougher,” he said.
