European Migration

Addressing a press conference in Athens on Friday, European Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos condemned a prosecutors' report alleging that Swiss drug manufacturer Novartis bribed Greek politicians as a "conspiracy" and slander." 

The claims "undermine democracy and institutions," Avramopoulos said, expressing his confidence that the "criminal activity" will be exposed.

Addressing a press conference in Athens on Friday, European Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos condemned a prosecutors' report alleging that Swiss drug manufacturer Novartis bribed Greek politicians as a "conspiracy" and slander." 

The claims "undermine democracy and institutions," Avramopoulos said, expressing his confidence that the "criminal activity" will be exposed.

European Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos has described as "unacceptable" the refusal by some European Union countries to take some of the weight off fellow member states by taking in asylum seekers.

Such a move would relieve countries such as Greece and Italy which continue to shoulder the burden of Europe's migration crisis, Avramopoulos told Agence France-Presse.

As pressure continues to build on the Aegean islands with ever more undocumented migrants arriving from neighboring Turkey, European Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos on Tuesday slammed a proposal by European Council President Donald Tusk for the abolition of mandatory quotas on relocating asylum seekers across the EU. 

In a meeting with European commissioners aligned with the European People's Party in Brussels on Wednesday, New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis presented his alternative program of reforms for Greece's post-bailout era. 

As Greece continues to struggle to accommodate migrants arriving from Turkey despite a reduction in arrivals, the European Commission on Tuesday called for border controls imposed within the passport-free Schengen area because of the migrant crisis to be lifted by November.

As authorities scramble to improve accommodation for thousands of migrants on Aegean islands amid forecasts of a new cold snap, a spokesperson for the United Nations refugee agency said Greek authorities have ignored proposals on how to ameliorate living conditions.

European officials are calling on Athens to take action by the end of this year ahead of the review and reactivation of the Dublin Regulation, which would lead to EU member-states returning migrants to Greece.

Greece could be faced with a suspension from the free movement in the Schengen area. EU interior ministers are meeting in Brussels on Thursday to discuss the refugee crisis. They are expected to ask fro more measures from Greece to control the flow of refugees to Europe, improve registration and set up cooperation with the EU.

The European Union is "concerned" by its existing asylum regulations and is looking at ways to amend them with large numbers of migrants fleeing conflict crossing the Mediterranean, the bloc's top immigration official said April 7.