Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-01-27

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Greek PM Alexis Tsipras begins visit to Israel

[02] European Commission accepts report that Greece 'seriously neglected' Schengen obligations

[03] Germany urges Turkey to act against migrant traffickers, pledges support for Athens

[04] German, French ministers to visit Greece over migration issues on Feb. 4

[01] Greek PM Alexis Tsipras begins visit to Israel

Bilateral meetings are also being held between ministers of the two countries and their counterparts. According to sources, the talks are dealing with cooperation agreements in energy, maritime transport, innovation, water technology and environmental protection, transport, tourism, security and trade agreements.

Earlier, Tsipras began his trip to Israel by visiting the Greek consulate in Jerusalem, where he met Jerusalem Patriarch Theophilos III and was briefed on a plan for conservation and restoration work on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

[02] European Commission accepts report that Greece 'seriously neglected' Schengen obligations

He said the report, based on inspections carried out last November, showed Greece had "seriously neglected" its obligations to fellow Schengen states. Among the problems, it cited inadequate procedures for recording, fingerprinting and inspecting the documents of refugees and migrants, and no connection with data from European services, such as Interpol.

"If the necessary action is not being taken and deficiencies persist, there is a possibility to ... allow member states to temporarily close their borders," Dombrovskis told a news briefing. If the Commission's conclusions are confirmed by a majority of the 26 Schengen states, he continued, the European Commission will then recommed remedial procedures, giving Greece three months in which to comply.

Noting that Greece had already made some progress since the assessment mission in November, Dombrovskis made it clear that more needed to be done. If Greece failed to comply, he said, the other Schengen-area states could reinstall controls of their national borders with Greece for a period of up to two years, not a maximum of six months as at present.

[03] Germany urges Turkey to act against migrant traffickers, pledges support for Athens

The current situation, where traffickers were allowed to operate unchecked between two member-states of NATO was "unacceptable," he noted, adding that Germany was willing to support Greece on this issue.

Asked whether he was could rule out the possibility of military intervention, Seibert replied that he "could not rule out anything here," and cited the common European talks on how to organise effective guarding of the borders.

"Greece will, of course, participate in this intensively, because it has a special interest. Both we and many other countries are willing to support Greece on this and on other levels," he said.

"The situation as it is now, between two countries that are, after all, members of NATO, with traffickers able to operate almost undisturbed and daily place the lives of people at risk is unacceptable and should be unacceptable for both countries that this issue concerns," he said.

[04] German, French ministers to visit Greece over migration issues on Feb. 4

The planned visit was announced after a meeting between de Maizière and Cazeneuve in Berlin, and later confirmed by the office of Alternate Minister for Migration Policy Yiannis Mouzalas in Greece.

According to sources, on the day following their arrival, the two ministers will visit the eastern Aegean island of Lesvos accompanied by Mouzalas.

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