Koumoutsakos: 'Migration demands a common solution'

Migration is a huge challenge for all European countries and demands a commonly-arrived at solution, Alternate Migration Minister Giorgos Koumoutsakos said on Thursday on his arrival at a European Union summit in Helsinki.

"It demands a common solution and a common reaction on a European Union level," he said.

On the sidelines of the summit, Koumoutsakos met with his Cypriot counterpart Konstantinos Petridis.

A statement issued by the Greek ministry shortly after the meeting said the two men "confirmed the two countries' shared conviction regarding the need for a more effective management of migration" and also underlined the need for "alertness in the Eastern Mediterranean ahead of a likely increase in migration flows over the coming period."

The two ministers are to hold bilateral talks in Athens on July 29.