There is great concern within the Greek government regarding the possible blow up of the agreement between the European Union and Turkey on the refugee issue.
The agreement between Ankara and the EU calls for the readmission to Turkey of migrants and refugees who crossed illegally to Greece. The concern is that if the deal is cancelled, Greece will face a great migrant influx that would be impossible to handle. Especially given that the European borders are hermetically shut.
The deterioration of EU-Turkey relations became evident last week, after the statements of Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu Minister, who threatened to cancel the agreement by October, if Europe does not grant visa-free travel to Turkish citizens.
The European response to the Cavusoglu statements has added fuel to the fire. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker warned that the agreement on the refugee issue is in the air and that if this happens, “we should expect that migrants will resume arriving in Europe. The risk has increased. The success of the agreement so far is fragile. The President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly implied that he questions the agreement,” Juncker said in an interview.
At the same time, hundreds of migrants have started arriving on Greek islands coming from the Turkish shores. Meanwhile, Ankara has recalled all Turkish officials on Greek islands who were monitoring the readmission process. Sources from Maximos Mansion say there is fear that these developments are signs that Turkey has, unofficially, put an end to the deal with the EU.
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