Greece

ATHENS, Nov 2 (NNN-AMNA) – Greece’s parliament, approved Friday, a bill that would accelerate asylum procedures, as part of its efforts to address its refugee and migrant challenges.

The bill covers accelerating the assessment process of asylum applications, the repatriation of migrants and the social inclusion of refugees, said Citizen Protection Minister, Michalis Chrisochoidis.

19 October 2019; AFP: At the notoriously overcrowded Greek island camp of Moria, Ezzatolah Soleimani admits he cries often amid despair, scenes of violence and interminable waits for food and basic sanitation.

The young Afghan is just 16, one of over 4,000 unaccompanied minors trapped in Greece by closed European borders and bureaucratic hurdles, and facing an uncertain future.

16 October 2019; AFP: Europe must be ready for the possibility of a new refugee influx, Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Wednesday, as an unfolding Turkish offensive in Syria could see more people flee the conflict-ridden region.

"Europe must be prepared for the eventuality of a new migratory and refugee wave coming through Greece," Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told AFP in an exclusive interview 100 days after taking office.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday defended the Trump administration’s approach to Ukraine, which is driving an impeachment inquiry in Congress, and called it typical of the transactional way countries deal with one another.

Pompeo said the focus from the media and commentators on President Donald Trump and Ukraine is “wrong” because it doesn’t “impact real people’s lives.”

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis urged the United States on Saturday to use its influence to defuse tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean, where Cyprus and Turkey are locked in a dispute over offshore rights.

Mitsotakis told visiting U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that Turkish moves south of the island in recent days were a “flagrant violation” of Cyprus’ sovereign rights.

ATHENS (Reuters) - Tensions between Cyprus and Turkey over offshore drilling intensified on Friday, with Nicosia accusing Turkey of a “severe escalation” of violations of its sovereign rights.

Turkey announced on Thursday that it had sent an oil-and-gas drilling ship to waters off southern Cyprus where Greek Cypriot authorities have already awarded hydrocarbon exploration rights to Italian and French companies.

MORIA (Greece), Oct 2 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Around a thousand migrants staged a fresh protest in Europe’s largest migrant camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, days after a deadly fire at the vastly overcrowded facility.

A procession made up mainly of women and children, with some elderly people, left Moria camp walking towards the port of Mytilene, with demonstrators shouting slogans.

But police road-block stopped them half-way to Mytilene.

1 October 2019; AFP: Greece said Monday it wanted to start sending back thousands of migrants to Turkey, a day after a deadly fire sparked riots at an overcrowded camp on the island of Lesbos.

The decision, taken at an emergency cabinet meeting, came as officials in Greece and abroad called for action to ease the pressure on the crowded migrant camps spread across the Aegean islands.

ATHENS, Oct 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Greek government said it wants to send 10,000 migrants back to Turkey by the end of 2020, following an emergency cabinet meeting.

Athens would increase the rate from the “1,805 returned in the 4.5 years under the previous Syria government” of left-wing leader Alexis Tsipras, a cabinet statement said, a day after a deadly fire at a migrant camp on the Greek island of Lesbos.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek police said Saturday they have arrested a suspect in the 1985 hijacking of a flight from Athens that became a multi-day ordeal and included the slaying of an American.

Police said a 65-year-old suspect in the hijacking was arrested Thursday on the island of Mykonos in response to a warrant from Germany.