Conservative Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has commended support pledged from other European Union member states to help reinforce the Greek border, calling the Aegean sea and the Evros river the “shield” of Europe.
Discussing the Austrian Migration Service personnel arriving at the border Wednesday, the Greek leader stated: “From today on, the Greek flag will be waving in Evros, as well as the Austrian, Cypriot, and shortly, flags of many other EU member states. Evros and the Aegean are Europe’s ‘shield’.”
The move comes after Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz had pledged his support for Greece enforcing strict border controls in order to prevent a repeat of the 2015 migrant crisis.
Earlier this month, the Austrian leader slammed the Turkish government led by Islamist President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, saying that the Turkish move to open the gates to Europe was an attack on Greece and the European Union.
PICTURES: Greek Border in Flames as Migrants Keep Trying to Break Through https://t.co/DTFBEmxdTc
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Austrian Interior Minister Karl Nehammer added that the central European nation would not be accepting new asylum claims and stated: “We will not accept them, there is no point in coming.”
The entire membership of the Visegrad Group — Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic — also pledged to help Greece secure the border earlier this month.
Not all European Union member states have been as supportive of the Greeks. Finland’s largely millennial female-led government stated they too would be sending officials to the border but said they would be there to help migrants register for asylum claims, not to guard the border.
Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin acknowledged that Turkey is attempting to use migrants “as political pawns” but slammed Greece for suspending all asylum claims, a policy the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has also claimed is not legal.
“The Finnish government’s position here is clear. When we secure our borders, we are abiding by international obligations. International obligations include [observing] the right to apply for asylum. This is one of the areas where we will try to support Greece,” Finland’s Interior Minister Maria Ohisalo said.
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