Warning over new migration crisis
Amid mounting concerns about growing numbers of irregular migrants arriving on the Aegean islands from the Turkish coast, Alternate Minister for Migration Giorgos Koumoutsakos told Parliament on Friday that Greece faces “a new period that could bring a possible resurgence of the migration and refugee problem.”
Responding to a question in Parliament from his leftist predecessor at the ministry, SYRIZA MP Yiannis Mouzalas, Koumoutsakos said, “All scenarios are possible.”
Koumoutsakos said Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will broach the subject at a European Union leaders summit this week, noting that the migration problem is an issue for all of Europe, not just Greece.
If the situation in Syria becomes increasingly unstable, following Turkey’s recent incursion, Greece has the option to invoke Article 78.3 of a European treaty that foresees solidarity for countries that suddenly face a large influx of refugees and migrants, he said.
Greece is already struggling to accommodate migrants amid a recent uptick in arrivals from Turkey.
