Greece suspends asylum applications for North African migrants
The announcement came a day after EU's migration commissioner and ministers from Italy, Malta and Greece were denied entry to the eastern part of divided Libya and declared persona non grata by the Benghazi-based government ahead of a scheduled meeting on migration.
"With legislation that will be submitted to the parliament tomorrow, Greece will suspend the examination of asylum applications, initially for three months, for those arriving in Greece from North Africa by sea," Mitsotakis told parliament.
He added that he intended to return to Libya all migrants who entered Greece "illegally".
Sea arrivals of migrants travelling from northeastern Libya to Greece's southern islands of Crete and Gavdos have surged to more than 7,300 this year, according to estimates by the Greek government and aid agencies. That compares with around 5,000 in the whole of 2024.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
TimesLIVE
7 hours ago
- TimesLIVE
US imposes sanctions on DRC armed group PARECO-FF, mining firms over illicit minerals
The US on Tuesday announced sanctions against an armed group aligned with Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) military as well as a Congolese mining company and two Hong Kong-based exporters over armed violence and the sale of critical minerals. The measures are the latest taken by the administration of President Donald Trump to try to bring peace to eastern DRC, where Rwanda-backed M23 rebels staged a lightning advance earlier this year, spurring violence that has killed thousands of people. The treasury department said it is putting sanctions on the Coalition des Patriotes Resistants Congolais-Forces de Frappe (PARECO-FF), a militia that it said controlled mining sites in the mineral-rich region of Rubaya from 2022 to 2024. Rubaya, now controlled by M23, produces 15% of the world's coltan, which is processed into a heat-resistant metal called tantalum that is in high demand from makers of mobile phones, computers and other applications in the electronics, aerospace and medical industries. The new sanctions, which restrict trade with US companies and persons, also target the Congolese mining company Cooperative des Artisanaux Miniers du Congo (CDMC), which the treasury department said sold critical minerals smuggled from PARECO-FF areas of control, and the Hong Kong-based export companies East Rise Corporation Limited and Star Dragon Corporation Limited, which it said bought those minerals. A senior US government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Washington was seeking to raise the cost of illicit trade "to make the licit trade that much more appealing."
TimesLIVE
7 hours ago
- TimesLIVE
Estonia expels Russian diplomat over sanctions violations
Estonia is expelling a Russian diplomat over sanctions violations and other crimes against the state, the Baltic country's foreign ministry said on Wednesday, prompting Moscow to say it would retaliate. The first secretary of the Russian embassy in Tallinn has been declared 'persona non grata' and must leave Estonia, the ministry said, without naming the diplomat. Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Alexei Fadeev said the expulsion was a hostile act and that Moscow would respond. Diplomatic relations between Moscow and Estonia, a Nato and EU member state, have deteriorated sharply following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. 'The Russian embassy's ongoing interference in the internal affairs of the Republic of Estonia must end,' Estonia's foreign minister Margus Tsahkna said in a statement. An Estonian citizen has been convicted of crimes in connection with the case, the ministry said, without elaborating. It also gave no details on what sanctions had been violated. Western countries have imposed a large array of economic sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
TimesLIVE
9 hours ago
- TimesLIVE
Zelensky in Berlin for online meeting with Trump, European leaders
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky travelled to Berlin on Wednesday for a German-hosted virtual meeting with Donald Trump and European leaders, two days before the US president meets Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska. Europe's leaders are trying to drive home the perils of selling out Kyiv's interests at the first US-Russia summit since 2021. Trump has said the Alaska talks will be a 'feel-out' meeting as he pursues a ceasefire in Moscow's war on Ukraine, having said last week, to consternation in Kyiv and Europe, that any deal would involve 'some swapping of territories'. Zelensky will meet German Chancellor Friedrich Merz before a video conference with the leaders of Germany, Finland, France, Britain, Italy, Poland and the EU at 2pm (12pm GMT), the hosts said. Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte will also attend. Trump and Vice-President JD Vance will join the call at 3pm (1pm GMT). The unpredictability of the summit in Alaska has fuelled Europeans' fears that the US and Russia could take far-reaching decisions over their heads and seek to coerce Ukraine into an unfavourable deal.
