European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Wednesday that it would be “very useful” if Greece and Turkey cooperated to control the refugee influx in their sea borders.
Juncker proposed the collaboration of the Greek and Turkish navies to control refugee arrivals by jointly patrolling European borders “under European auspices.”
Speaking at the European Parliament plenum, the EC chief said, “We proposed a naval cooperation between Greek and Turkish authorities to patrol maritime borders. I spoke with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and he accepted, but the Greek side has objections. I’d like to see the Greek side reconsider its stance.” He added that talks with Greece will continue.
“It’s a European issue, it’s not an issue of Greek-Turkish relations,” Juncker said, referring to Greece’s reluctance to agree. Greek diplomatic circles say that Athens fears that Ankara might exploit the refugee issue to strengthen its presence in the Aegean, where it has territorial claims on sea and airspace surrounding several Greek islands near the Turkish coasts.
German government spokesman Steffen Seibert was on the same wavelength, stressing the need for a coordinated effort between Greece and Turkey in the Aegean and at the EU’s external borders to stop activities of human smugglers.
Over 710,000 refugees and migrants, mainly from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, entered Europe in the first nine months of this year according to EU border agency Frontex.
This includes over 400,000 people who have landed on Greek islands from Turkey, while hundreds more have drowned trying to make the perilous crossing.
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