German NGO to fund facility for refugees in northern Greece

Athens, 6 May 2016 (MIA) - Plans are afoot for the creation of a new reception center for refugees near Thermi, east of Thessaloniki, funded by a German nongovernmental organization, daily Kathimerini understands.

Representatives of a large German NGO recently visited Thessaloniki for talks with local officials about creating the center, which would hold up to 1,500 refugees, Kathimerini has learned. The NGO is said to be offering 5 million euros for use by local authorities.

Meanwhile, migrants living in a makeshift camp near the village of Idomeni in northern Greece are continuing their efforts to cross the border with Macedonia despite a crackdown at the frontier by the country's border guards.

On Thursday, a group of around 100 refugees approached the barbed wire fence that forms the border between the two countries but were pushed back by police.

Kathimerini quotes Macedonian media, according to which approximately 800 migrants have tried to cross the border in the past two days alone.

Greece’s Migration Policy Minister Yiannis Mouzalas Thursday reiterated his intention to remove migrants from the camp in a peaceful fashion but gave no time frame for the evacuation.

“[The camp at] Idomeni must be dismantled and will be dismantled,” he said. He added that migrants whose residence permits have expired will get them automatically renewed by authorities when they are relocated to state-run reception centers.

More than 10,000 people are currently living in the Idomeni camp, with around 5,000 more in a state-run facility in Elliniko, the site of the old Athens airport, and thousands more in other makeshift camps across the country.

On Wednesday, the European Commission proposed the extension of emergency border controls inside the passport-free Schengen area, declaring that tighter checks were justified by shortfalls in Greece’s management of the European Union’s external border.

Meanwhile, under a new proposal to overhaul the EU’s asylum laws, member-states refusing to accept refugees could face large fines. ik/14:30

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Turkey's Erdogan takes tough EU line after PM quits

Ankara, 6 May 2016 (MIA) - Turkey's president has told the EU it will not change its anti-terror laws in return for visa-free travel, the BBC reported.

"We'll go our way, you go yours," Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.

The EU says Turkey needs to narrow its definition of terrorism to qualify for visa-free travel - which is part of a larger deal between the sides aimed at easing Europe's migration crisis.

Erdogan was speaking a day after PM Ahmet Davutoglu, who largely negotiated the EU deal, said he was stepping down.

Davutoglu had also reportedly opposed Erdogan's plan to give more power to the presidency. Erdogan said the proposed constitutional changes were a national need, not a personal requirement.

The wide-ranging EU-Turkey deal involves the return of migrants, mainly Syrians, from Greece to Turkey, along with increased aid and other measures.

One of these is to allow Turkish citizens visa-free travel for short stays in the EU's Schengen area which comprises 22 EU and four non-EU members.

However, the EU wants Turkey to narrow its broad definition of terrorism to match tighter EU standards. It is one of five EU criteria Turkey still has to agree to in order to meet the visa-free requirements.

Erdogan rejected this, saying in a televised speech on Friday: "Turkey, when it's under attack from terrorist organisations from all sides, the European Union is telling us to change the anti-terror law in exchange for the visa deal."

Referring to tents erected by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, near the EU parliament in Brussels, Erdogan said: "You [the EU] will let terrorists build tents and provide them with opportunities in the name of democracy.

"And then [you] will tell us 'if you change this [anti-terrorism legislation], I will lift the visas'. Sorry, we'll go our way, you go yours."

If Mr Erdogan does not meet the EU requirements, the European Parliament and EU leaders will not vote on the visa waiver at the end of June and the whole deal could fall apart.

Another part of the EU-Turkey deal had been to hold new talks on Turkish accession to the EU.

But analysts say Erdogan has been less convinced of EU alignment than Davutoglu, and he will certainly be a tougher negotiator.

On Thursday, Davutoglu, who was hand-picked by Erdogan to succeed him as head of the governing AK Party after Erdogan was elected president in 2014, said he would not stand again as leader at an extraordinary party congress called for 22 May.

The prime minister's unease with Erdogan's plans to move to a presidential system, among other policies, had been evident in recent months.

In his speech, Erdogan dismissed those who believe that, as president, he should stand aside from party politics.

He expressed his determination to put presidential reform to a referendum as soon as possible.

He said: "The presidential system issue is not Recep Tayyip Erdogan's personal request. The place in which Turkey has arrived as a result of its experiences has created an urgent need for both the presidential system and the new constitution."

Among those tipped as successors to Davutoglu are Transport Minister Binali Yildirim, who is close to Erdogan, and Energy Minister Berat Albayrak, who is the president's son-in-law. ba/19:37

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EU's Juncker sees refugee crisis at 'turning point'

Berlin, 7 May 2016 (MIA) - Europe's migrant crisis is at a "turning point" thanks to a deal with Turkey to stem the number of new arrivals which is showing its first successes, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said in comments published on Saturday.

Under an accord struck with the European Union, Turkey has agreed to help stop illegal migrants reaching the continent in return for accelerated EU accession talks, visa liberalization, and financial aid.

Juncker told the Funke Media Group that the deal, which came into force last month, was already enabling Europe to better manage the flow of migrants, Reuters reported.

"We are at a turning point," he said.

"The deal with Turkey is having an effect and the number of migrants is sinking significantly."

He added there still needed to be a sustainable drop in the numbers before the "all-clear" could be sounded, but said the deal had given the 28-member bloc room for maneuver to create a fair and efficient asylum system in the medium term.

Europe is grappling with its largest migration wave since World War Two, as a traditional flow of migrants from Africa is compounded by refugees fleeing wars and poverty in the Middle East and South Asia.

The deal sealed off the main route by which a million migrants crossed the Aegean into Greece last year, but some believe new routes will develop through Bulgaria or Albania as Mediterranean crossings to Italy from Libya resume.

Juncker criticized the decision to build a fence between Greece and Macedonia.

"I don't share the view of some that this fence - or building fences in Europe in general - can contribute anything to the long-term solution of the refugee crisis," he said.

"Fences may prevent refugees form moving on, but no fence and no wall is high enough to deter these people from coming to Europe when they are fleeing war and violence in their home countries." ba/11:00

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IMF urges eurozone to begin debt relief talks with Greece

Washington, 7 May 2016 (MIA) - The International Monetary Fund has urged eurozone governments to enter debt relief negotiations with economically shattered Greece, a spokesman for the Washington-based crisis lender confirmed to dpa news agency.

He confirmed that a letter to that effect from IMF chief Christine Lagarde has been sent to ministers in the 19 eurozone countries, and that descriptions of her recommendation was accurately reported in the Financial Times newspaper, which first reported the contents.

Lagarde writes that debt relief should be on the table immediately. Otherwise, the IMF‘s continued participation in last year‘s third rescue programme for Greece is in doubt.

Athens and its international creditors have struggled for months to agree on structural reforms and cost-cutting measures that would allow the cash-strapped government to continue receiving bailout aid. Concerns are growing that Greece is once again nearing the brink of bankruptcy.

Eurozone finance ministers will hold a special meeting of their Eurogroup panel on Monday afternoon to review progress in the negotiations.

Ahead of that meeting, the Greek parliament is due to vote late Sunday on most elements of a reform package required of Athens, totalling 3 per cent of Greece‘s gross domestic product (GDP).



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