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GreekReporter.comGreeceEU Puts an End to Scenarios about Greece's Suspension from Schengen

EU Puts an End to Scenarios about Greece's Suspension from Schengen

epa05038407 Migrants from Pakistan and Bangladesh protest on Greek side of the border after they were barred from crossing the border, near Gevegelija, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, 23 November 2015. Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia on 19 November stopped entry to all economic migrants, allowing only refugees from war-torn Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan to pass. Migrants barred from crossing the border line have been protesting for four days. EPA/GEORGI LICOVSKIThe European Commission put a temporary stop to scenarios about Greece being suspended from the Schengen Agreement, after a meeting of European justice ministers in Brussels on Friday.
The threat to Greece, and to the future of the border-free zone, has been considerably lessened as Athens activated the European Union civil protection mechanism and agreed to request aid from Frontex.
Under the civil protection mechanism, Greece will now receive material support to help cope with the refugees, who arrive on its shores in the thousands daily.
The commission’s Emergency Response Co-ordination Center is working with Greek authorities and other countries to deliver tents, electricity generators, beds, sanitary equipment, and first aid kits, with 85 percent funded by the commission.
Greece also agreed a plan with Frontex for a new operation at its border with Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. There are virtually no facilities for the authorities there to register those passing through, most of them being transferred from the port of Piraeus having been brought from the islands they arrived on from Turkey.
Jean Asselborn, the foreign minister of Luxembourg, who holds the rotating chairmanship of ministerial meetings on migration, stated that, “Greece’s efforts are remarkable, considering the massive inflow of refugees in the country.”
“We must put ourselves in Greece’s place. There are five Greek islands near the Turkish shores,” he added.
Asselborn said that the rules of Schengen do not allow for the suspension of a member. When a member state faces problems, then all countries take measures to help solve the problem based on Schengen regulations.
Greece’s Deputy Migration Minister Yiannis Mouzalas reiterated Greece’s position that the refugee issue is “a European problem that requires a European solution and not isolated, uncoordinated efforts.”

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