EU Council president Donald Tusk was meeting with Greek leadership in Athens on Thursday ahead of a crucial EU summit on Monday with Turkey, which will exclusively focus on the acute refugee / migrant crisis being faced by Europe.
Turkey has emerged as the pivotal country in the ongoing country, given that it borders with both war-ravaged Syria and Iraq and hosts millions of displaced people. Conversely, most of the people illegally entering Greece in a bid to reach other European destinations – including irregular migrants from numerous other Third World countries – are ferried from Turkish territory.
After meeting with Greek PM Alexis Tsipras, Tusk will head to Turkey for meetings with Turkish Premier Ahmet Davutoglu and President Tayyip Recep Erdogan.
Meanwhile, dozens of third country nationals congregated at the border between Greece and the former Yugoslav Republic of Maceodonia (fYRoM) on Thursday morning to again block the rail line connecting the two countries — in protest over the long wait in being allowed entry into the latter country.
Hundreds of Mideast war refugees and irregular migrants continue to head to the Idomeni border post in order to try and pass into fYRoM, part of a bid to make it to more prosperous destinations in central and northern Europe.
The development comes after the very high-profile statement by the Greek migration policy minister a day earlier, who estimated that the border with fYRoM will remain closed for a long time. Yiannis Mouzalas added that until European agreements to receive refugees are met, most will remain in Greece.
