EU promises help for migration management in Greece

By Agnes Szucs

ANKARA (AA) - The EU offered €350 million ($391 million) to Greece to support migration management, the European Commission’s president announced Tuesday after visiting the Greek-Turkish border.

The financial assistance will be immediately transferred to Greece and an additional €350 million if the government requires it, said Ursula von der Leyen.

The EU will send 100 additional border guards to help 530 staffers from the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (FRONTEX) already on the ground. Seven ships and a helicopter, as well as medical equipment and assistance will be provided.

Top EU leaders decided to visit the Greek border town of Evros after Greece asked the EU’s to help secure its borders because tens thousands of migrants have been gathering at the Turkish-Greek gate in the recent days.

The migratory pressure started to rise after Turkish authorities announced Friday Turkey would no longer prevent irregular migrants from reaching Europe.

Ankara’s decision to allow migrants to reach Europe came after 34 of its soldiers died n an attack by the Syrian regime in the Idlib de-escalation zone.

Turkey is already hosting close to 4 million Syrian refugees as well as migrants from other countries such as Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The EU and Turkey agreed on a deal in 2016 to stop irregular migration through the Aegean Sea, and improve the conditions of more than 3 million Syrian refugees in Turkey. The EU pledged €6 billion ($6.7 billion) funding to support projects for Syrian refugees in the country.

But Turkish politicians have recently criticized the EU member states for not fully implementing the 2016 deal, and backing away from their political commitments.

“The EU will continue the implementation of the agreement, and we expect Turkey to do the same,” said European Council’s President Charles Michel.

“Turkey is not an enemy,” von der Leyen said as she criticized Ankara's recent decision, arguing “people are not just means to reach a political goal,” Michel said there is a necessity to find a diplomatic solution for the Syrian conflict.

For this purpose, EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and EU commissioner for crisis management Janez Lenarcic traveled to Ankara on Tuesday, he said.

In recent months, nearly 1.7 million Syrians have moved near the Turkish border due to intense attacks by Assad regime and its allies.

Idlib, just across Turkey’s southern border, falls within a de-escalation zone laid out in a deal between Turkey and Russia in late 2018.

But the Syrian regime and its allies have consistently broken the terms of the agreement, launching frequent attacks inside the territory, where acts of aggression are expressly prohibited.

Turkey launched Operation Spring Shield on Sunday after at least 34 Turkish soldiers were martyred in an Assad regime airstrike in Idlib.

Under the 2018 deal with Russia, Turkish troops were in Idlib to protect civilians from attacks by the Assad regime and its allies.