NATO to help Greece and Turkey to tackle refugee crisis

BRUSSELS, March 6 (KUNA) -- NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced Sunday that the Alliance will expand its naval presence in the Aegean to the territorial waters of Greece and Turkey to help them deal with the refugee crisis.
He noted in a statement that "NATO ships are already collecting information and conducting monitoring in the Aegean Sea. Their activity will now be expanded to take place also in territorial waters." He noted that "the purpose of NATO's deployment is not to stop or push back migrant boats, but to help our Allies Greece and Turkey, as well as the European Union, in their efforts to tackle human trafficking and the criminal networks that are fuelling this crisis." NATO's Maritime Command has also agreed with the EU border agency FRONTEX on arrangements at the operational and tactical level.
"This is an excellent example of how NATO and the EU can work together to address common challenges," he added.
The EU also welcomed that Frontex and NATO reached a common underst anding today on the modalities of their cooperation in the Aegean Sea.
"The decision of NATO to assist in the conduct of reconnaissance, monitoring and surveillance of illegal crossings in the Aegean Sea is an important contribution to international efforts to tackle smuggling and irregular migration in the Aegean Sea in the context of the refugee crisis," said EU High Representative Federica Mogherini and EU Commissioner for migration a nd home affairs Dimitris Avramopoulos in a joint statement.
The statements come a day ahead of a crucial EU-Turkey summit in Brussels on Monday to find ways to stop the flow of refugees from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan to Europe.
At least 18 people drowned trying to cross the Aegean Sea on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the leader of the Liberals Group in the European Parliament, Guy Verhofstadt, called on EU Member States today to stop trying to outsource EU problems and instead tackle the refugee crisis by delivering a genuine European approach.
"EU leaders are risking everything on a single card: Turkey. Outsourcing our problems to Turkey is however naive. Moreover we should not sell our soul for a deal with a country simply because we are incapable of dealing with our problems and implementing a real European solution" said Verhofstadt, a former Belgian Prime Minister. (end) nk.bs