“The main mission of NATO in the Aegean will be surveillance,” Alternate Minister for Civil Protection Nikos Toskas on Sunday said in an interview with newspaper “Avghi.”
“NATO will be responsible for the surveillance and observation of migratory flows and then it will notify Frontex, which will act mainly in the Greek territorial waters and will oversee whether the Turks respect the agreement and allow boats to come to our islands or not,” he explained adding that NATO will not get involved in identification procedures.
He underlined that Greece and Turkey’s sovereign rights will be respected. “Turkish ships will not act in Greek territorial waters, and Greek ships will not act in theirs,” he stated.
Toskas confirmed that Greece has met its commitments as regards the hotspots on islands and the reception centers on the mainland.
On the return of refugees, he said: “We cannot accept any more people. We are more than willing to accept these people on humanitarian basis, but agreements need to be made for their return in Turkey or other countries. We are not talking about asylum seekers, but economic migrants.”
(source: ana-mpa)
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