Ioannis Mouzalas

Greece faces the possibility of being ousted from the Schengen zone as it is considered the “Achilles heel” of the area. For this reason, EU interior ministers are meeting on Friday to consider what to do about Greece’s inability to stem the flow of refugees and others streaming towards the EU.

On Wednesday, November 4, Migration and Home Affairs Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos and Luxembourg Minister for Foreign Affairs Jean Asselborn will travel to Greece.

Greece said that the European Union had offered to pay the costs of housing 20,000 additional refugees in temporary camps on its islands as part of the EU’s efforts to manage the refugee flow. So far, more than 500,000 migrants have transited through Greece after a perilous Aegean Sea crossing from Turkey in their efforts to flee from Syria’s civil war.

It is high time for Europe to show its solidarity, Greece’s caretaker Alternate Minister for Migration Policy Ioannis Mouzalas said, as he arrived for the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council on the refugee crisis.

“Greece is making efforts to meet its responsibilities toward refugees” he said underling that the problem faced by Greece was primarily a European problem.

A new caretaker government until snap elections next month will be sworn-in on Friday, with Supreme Court justice Vassiliki Thanou as prime minister. The Cabinet, as announced, includes:

Foreign Minister: Petros Molyviatis

Alternate Minister for European Affairs: Spyros Flogaitis

Interior Minister: Antonis Manitakis