PM: Greece sending Navy ships to monitor migrant vessels off Libya

Greece is planning to sent Navy ships outside Libya’s territorial waters “as a precaution” to monitor migrant flows, Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Monday, during a regular meeting with the President of the Republic, Costas Tasoulas.

“I have asked […] the Minister of National Defense and the leadership of the Armed Forces to ensure that Greek Navy ships are sent outside Libyan territorial waters, so that, as a precaution and always in cooperation with the Libyan authorities and the other European forces, we can send a message that [migrant] smugglers will not dictate who enters our country,” he said, adding that he will raise the issue at the upcoming EU Summit.

Greece has recently seen a rise in migrant arrivals, with 731 migrants, including many families and children, arriving on Crete and Gavdos in less than 24 hours late last week. Most migrants came from Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea and Pakistan, departing from Tobruk, Libya. Recent diplomatic tensions with Libya have complicated cooperation on migration.

Referred to the terrorist attack on a Greek Orthodox church in Damascus, Syria, on Sunday, he expressed his abhorrence and anger and called on the new Syrian government “to take practical steps to protect all religious communities.”

Source: pagenews.gr