Deputy Migration Minister Yiannis Mouzalas said that the Greek government did not have control of European Union funding allocated to handling the refugee crisis.
Speaking in parliament on Monday, Mouzalas admitted that large sums of money were given to non-government organizations without being monitored by the Greek state.
“Unfortunately, money that was given to international organizations, to NGOs, we cannot control it. This is a problem. We have repeatedly said that. Despite our very good cooperation with (European Commissioners) Mr. Avramopoulos and Mr. Stylianides, there are large sums we cannot control,” Mouzalas said in the House.
Out of the 210 million euros disbursed through EU emergency funding in 2016, 59.82 million euros were given to the Greek state, while 150.62 million euros went to international organizations, Mouzalas specified. These organizations would be inspected by the EU at a later date, but could not be controlled by the Greek state, the deputy minister added.
Also, Mouzalas said that the Greek government could not monitor the funds and keep it within Greece, as a large part of it, 25 percent, was flown out of the country and given to NGOs for administrative costs.
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