Jens Stoltenberg, the NATO secretary-general, said on Thursday the warships, now under German command, are ordered into the Aegean Sea to conduct naval patrols to help end the smuggling of migrants between Turkey and Greece. The decision is based on a joined request by Germany, Greece and Turkey.
Ships from NATO Standing Maritime Group 2 will move “without delay” on orders from US Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove, NATO’s chief in Europe, Stoltenberg said. He added that “as part of the agreement, Greek and Turkish armed forces will not operate in each other’s territorial waters or air space.”
“This is about helping Greece, Turkey and the European Union with stemming the flow of migrants and refugees and coping with a very demanding situation,” Stoltenberg said, calling the situation a “human tragedy.”
According to the International Organization for Migration, more than 400 people have died so far this year trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea, and that over 70,000 refugees have arrived in Greece since the start of the year after crossing the Aegean.
The move, discussed by NATO ministers for the first time at a meeting in Brussels, is aimed at halting the further inflow of refuges and migrants into the continent as more than a million asylum seekers already arrived last year.
The three NATO warships will provide “important information” to the Greek and Turkish coast guards and other authorities, Stoltenberg said. According to NATO’s website, the flotilla is composed of a German navy flagship, the Bonn, and two other vessels, the Barbaros from Turkey and the Fredericton from Canada.
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