Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has urged NATO to increase naval patrols in the Aegean Sea following threats made by Turkish President Erdogan to flood Europe with more than three million migrants.
Source: Greece calls on NATO following Turkish threats to flood Europe with migrants – Voice of Europe
“I asked the Secretary-General and the Alliance, and member states to strengthen their presence in the Aegean Sea with more ships,” Mitsotakis said during a press conference after speaking with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg in Athens on Thursday, Greek City Times reports.
“We ask for the mission to be expanded to the south Aegean so we can cover the full scope of our country’s maritime borders,” Mitsotakis added.
“Hey EU, pull yourself together. I say it again. If you try to frame our operation as an invasion, our task is simple: we will open the gates and send 3.6 million migrants to you,” Erdogan said last week during an address to Turkish lawmakers.
This is far from the first time that Erdogan has made such threats.
Many European officials have asserted that the 2016 EU-Turkish migration agreement has completely broken down. This year alone, nearly 22,000 migrants are believed to have landed in Greece.
Brussels strongly condemned Turkey after it began a military offensive in northeastern Syria on Wednesday.
Germany, France, the Netherlands, Norway, and Finland have all since suspended military equipment sales to Ankara.
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