European Commission welcomed on Friday a Greek government decision to request help from European Union-flagged patrols and emergency workers in controlling its borders and screening asylum seekers escaping conflict in the Middle East, amid reports that Brussels is mulling the formation of a special force to beef up the Schengen Area.
Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas commented that Greece’s decisions to activate the bloc’s Civil Protection Mechanism, to allow EU agency Frontex to help with the registration of migrants on the border with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), and to trigger the Rapid Border Intervention Teams mechanism (RABIT) for extra patrols in the Aegean were all “in the right direction.”
Four new hot-spots
He also added that Greece, which is in the front line of Europe’s migration and refugee crisis, has pledged to set up another four so-called hot spots on an equal number of Aegean islands, after a first hot spot is already in operation on Lesvos. “We hope to have concrete, tangible progress on the ground” before an EU summit on December 17 where migration will be on the agenda”, Mr. Schinas added.
At the same time, US Secretary of State John Kerry took a positive view of Greece’s energy policy and its efforts to tackle the refugee crisis during a one-day visit to the country Friday, while he urged Athens to continue on the path of economic reforms.
