Austria shows solidarity with Greece on migrant crisis

ATHENS - Facing pressure at home to get tougher on migration, Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann showed solidarity with Greece on Tuesday during a visit to the island of Lesvos, where tens of thousands of migrants have first set foot in Europe this year.

   Nearly 400,000 people have arrived in Greece by sea this year, according to the latest data from the U.N. refugee agency. Almost half of those landed on the shores of Lesvos, overwhelming public services and turning normal life upside down on the holiday island of 86,000 people.

   Like Greece, Austria is mainly a stepping stone for migrants and refugees headed north, especially to Germany. At least 170,000 of them entered the Alpine nation last month and while only a fraction sought asylum, the influx has boosted the popularity of the country’s far-right Freedom Party.

   That has alarmed Faymann’s Conservative coalition partners. The Conservative vice-chancellor, for example, has hinted that he could quit if the government does not take a harder line.

   Faymann and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras visited two registration centers and the Eleftherios Venizelos ferry that has been shuttling refugees from Lesvos and other Aegean islands to Athens. Local television showed refugees carrying babies and luggage in line on the quay beside the ship.

   Tsipras has urged to provide a “humane face to the crisis.” Standing beside Faymann, the Greek leader said, “Today the good face of Europe was shown, the face of solidarity. This is not a Greek problem, it is an international problem, a European problem and as such we have to deal with it together.”

   Faymann, a Social Democrat who spoke up for Greece during tense bailout talks between Athens and its European creditors during the summer, has offered to send 100 specialists to Greece to help establish so-called hotspots to register refugees and migrants at Europe’s frontiers.

   The two leaders discussed the issue by phone last weekend with German Chancellor Angel Merkel, who is also facing domestic pressure over her handling of the migration crisis.

   Following violent scenes in Lesvos early last month, Greece has taken steps to improve the registration of new arrivals, but aid agencies still call for more. The UN warned last week that the lack of temporary accommodation in Greece could “seriously jeopardize” the EU plan to register and subsequently relocate refugees in different countries.

   Tsipras, who was re-elected on September 20, has also been criticized for dragging his heels over the crisis. Opposition party To Potami sniped, “It took a visit from the Austrian chancellor for Tsipras to go and visit the refugee frontlines in Lesvos.”

Πηγή: politico.eu