Greece needs a long-term ‘ national strategy’ to deal with the influx of undocumented migrants from the Middle East, Africa and Asia, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Tuesday following a meeting in Athens with European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship Dimitris Avramopoulos.
The European Union needs to show more solidarity toward people fleeing war zones, Tsipras said in comments after the meeting, adding that there should also be more support for countries on Europe's external borders, such as Greece, who receive the majority of arrivals.
"Greece cannot be a soul repository; the problem needs to be shared," Tsipras said.
The European Commission is aware of the need for improvements to current regulations stipulating that undocumented migrants are returned to and processed by the country of first entry into the EU, Avramopoulos said.
"It is now widely acknowledged that something has to change," the commissioner said.
"We will be submitting a comprehensive proposal" to this end, Avramopoulos added.
Source: Ekathimerini.com