Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and EU Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship Dimitris Avramopoulos held a meeting in the Greek capital of Athens on Wednesday, during which they discussed ways of tackling the migration flow, local media reported, citing Tsipras' office.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th September, 2018) Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and EU Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship Dimitris Avramopoulos held a meeting in the Greek capital of Athens on Wednesday, during which they discussed ways of tackling the migration flow, local media reported, citing Tsipras' office.
According to the Kathimerini newspaper, the Tsipras-Avramopoulos meeting, held ahead of the informal summit of EU state leaders, focused on the coordination of the Greek authorities' efforts on migration with the European Commission.
Tsipras and Avramopoulos also discussed the implementation of the EU-Turkey agreement, signed in March 2016 as a means to curb the mass refugee influx from Turkey to the European Union.
The meeting came against the backdrop of the tough situation in the Moria migrant camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, which is currently hosting 6,000 more refugees than it has the capacity for.
On September 13, Avramopoulos said that the European Commission would promote the improvement of conditions in the overcrowded camp and continue providing financial support to Greece so that the country could cope with the situation.
Since 2015, Europe has been facing a migration crisis, with scores of refugees arriving from countries rife with conflict. Many of them are attempting to reach the continent via the Mediterranean Sea, with Greece being one of the main points of entry. A total of 22,153 migrants have arrived in the country so far this year, according to the latest estimates of the International Organization for Migration.
The migration crisis and ways of tackling it are key discussion points at the two-day EU leaders' summit, which is currently underway in the Austrian city of Salzburg.
