×
GreekEnglish

×
  • Politics
  • Diaspora
  • World
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Cooking
Tuesday
13
Jan 2026
weather symbol
Athens 4°C
  • Home
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • World
  • Diaspora
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Mediterranean Cooking
  • Weather
Contact follow Protothema:
Powered by Cloudevo
> Greece

Confidential paper on refugees says EU countries refuse to send staff to Greece

They fear for the safety of their staff in Greek hotspots

Newsroom October 29 01:59

According to a confidential document, German magazine “Spiegel” claims to have in its possession, EU member states refuse to send specialised staff to help Greece deal with the numerous refugees hosted in the country, citing overcrowded hotspots and enraged migrants in the reception facilities. The EU-Turkey refugee agreement provides for the deployment by EU member-states of specialised staff to the overstrained first entry countries of Greece and Italy to alleviate their burden. The document, which derives from the European Council, describes the situation in the hotspots in Greece as unstable that could “create problems to the national staff, the EU services and NGOs”. Greece has been bearing the brunt of the refugee and migrant flows from the Turkish coasts, with the economically strained country trying to pool whatever resources it has to successfully deal with the dire situation of processing asylum applications and readmissions of refugees and migrants to Turkey. Speiegel points out that even though the EU wants migrants whose asylum applications are rejected to be returned back to Turkey, currently the procedures are stalling as the Greek authorities are overwhelmed by the sheer number of people. An illustration of this is that on the island of Lesvos every 9 employees are assigned to examining the asylum applications of 6,000 refugees and migrants! “The EU member-states have responded to very small degree to requests for the deployment of specialised staff so far”, the magazine underlines. A German politician for the Greens said the conditions on the Greek islands is shameful for the EU.

Ask me anything

Explore related questions

#eu#german#greece#hotspots#Lesvos#magazine#migrants#refugees#spiegel
> More Greece

Follow en.protothema.gr on Google News and be the first to know all the news

See all the latest News from Greece and the World, the moment they happen, at en.protothema.gr

> Latest Stories

Motorcycle rider arrested in Thessaloniki for driving 128 km/h in residential area

January 12, 2026

Mattel releases the first Barbie with autism, watch video

January 12, 2026

Farmers’ unions cancel meeting with Mitsotakis, plan escalation with new roadblocks

January 12, 2026

Shark attack on woman in Brazil: ‘I knew it had bitten me’, watch video

January 12, 2026

The 15 Greek islands that stand out for holidays in 2026, according to Conde Nast Traveller

January 12, 2026

Agatha Christie’s 1958 visit to the Acropolis captured in unpublished photo

January 12, 2026

Russia declares war on the Ecumenical Patriarch: “He is dismantling the Body of the Church, has nationalist and neo-nazi allies”

January 12, 2026

Video: The “battle” of the Skopelitis with the waves in the Aegean

January 12, 2026
All News

> World

Shark attack on woman in Brazil: ‘I knew it had bitten me’, watch video

The attack was captured frame by frame by an underwater camera, with the victim ultimately escaping after receiving several stitches

January 12, 2026

Maria Machado at the Vatican, a few days before she meets Trump

January 12, 2026

The local judicial authorities decided to detain the owner of the bar in Crans-Montana for three months

January 12, 2026

Ukraine: 35,000 households in Odessa are without electricity after a Russian drone attack

January 12, 2026

Bloomberg: Britain and Germany discuss the presence of NATO forces in Greenland

January 12, 2026
Homepage
PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION POLICY COOKIES POLICY TERM OF USE
Powered by Cloudevo
Copyright © 2026 Πρώτο Θέμα