NATO’s Aegean patrols to continue

Patrols by the Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG2) in the Aegean to stem the flow of migrants into Europe will continue despite objections by Turkey, defense ministers agreed Thursday at a NATO summit in Brussels.

“The prevention of refugee flows with NATO ships will continue as long as there are prospective illegal migrants or refugees on the other side of the Aegean,” said Greek Defense Minister Panos Kammenos.

Perhaps the most important result of the summit that began on Wednesday was an agreement to establish a southern defense hub at NATO’s allied interforce command center in Naples, Italy, to monitor threats along the alliance’s southern doorstep.