Migration min Panagiotopoulos to hold first meeting with Turkish counterpart in Budapest this week

Greece and Türkiye are cooperating on the migration issue, which "functions effectively on the land borders, especially in Evros", Migration & Asylum Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos told national broadcaster ERTNews on Tuesday.

Greece and Türkiye are cooperating on the migration issue, which “functions effectively on the land borders, especially in Evros”, Migration & Asylum Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos told national broadcaster ERTNews on Tuesday.

Panagiotopoulos added that delegations of high-level officials from Greece, Türkiye, and Bulgaria met in Thessaloniki on Monday and “it went well.” He also said that this week he will meet for the first time with his Turkish counterpart, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya, in the framework of a forum on migration held in Budapest. He added, “It will be a first contact in person, and I believe that from there on we will establish the framework to meet bilaterally, probably in Greece; it is our turn to host him.”

The minister said “obviously, there is much room for improving cooperation on maritime borders; obviously this is related to human traffickers.” He pointed out that the migration pressure point in the last few months is in the Southeast Aegean. “They come from the Asia Minor coast, that is, from Türkiye, to the islands of the South Aegean, mainly Rhodes, but also smaller islands like Symi as well,” he said.

Capacity at islands that serve as registration sites for migrants has reached 100%, but capacity in all registration sites in Greece is around 55%. “Therefore, there is much room to decongest the islands and distribute people, even those who have not yet registered, to facilities on the mainland. Right now, the situation is manageable. I hope that flows do not rise so steeply and so quickly and so intensely that they try the limits of our system,” Panagiotopoulos said.