Dimitris Avramopoulos

Greek authorities are planning the transfer of thousands of migrants from overcrowded facilities on the Aegean islands to centers on the mainland, sources said on Wednesday as Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras held talks with visiting European Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos about a new burgeoning refugee crisis. 

Europe's Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, Dimitris Avramopoulos, and Serbia's Interior Minister, Nebojsa Stefanovic, on Thursday initialed an agreement on cooperation between Serbia and Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras met with European Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos in Athens on Wednesday to discuss plans to improve the management of migratory flows, ahead of the informal summit meeting in Salzburg later today.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is expected to back a plan by the European Union to widen the bloc's border agency's scope and powers and call for a fair distribution of the burdens caused by migration when European leaders meeting in Salzburg this week.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is to meet on Wednesday with the European Union's migration commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos against the backdrop of mounting reports on the dismal conditions at the Moria reception and processing center on the island of Lesvos.

The head of the Internal Ministry (MUP) Department for International Cooperation Zoran Lazarov on Tuesday denied media reports that Serbia and the EU had signed an agreement on the deployment of members of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) on Serbia's borders.

The European Commission announced plans on Thursday to beef up its European Border and Coast Guard Agency (aka Frontex) with increased funding and powers to protect the bloc's external borders.

European Commissioner for Migration Dimitris Avramopoulos said the plan will be "an even bigger game-changer in the way in which our common external borders will be managed and protected."

As a rise in migrant arrivals across the Western Mediterranean has intensified European concerns, EU Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos again called for European Union solidarity over the issue, warning that "purely national solutions lead to isolation."

European Commissioner for Migration Dimitris Avramopoulos Tuesday proposed financial incentives to European Union member-states to take in migrants from Mediterranean rescue boats as Italian authorities continue to turn away such vessels.

The EU commissioner for migration and home affairs, Dimitris Avramopoulos, said this in Brussels on Wednesday, Beta agency reported.