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Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-04-08
CONTENTS
[01] FM Kotzias announces April meetings on migration with Balkan
countries
[02] Greece returns 97 irregular migrants to Turkey
[01] FM Kotzias announces April meetings on migration with Balkan
countries
Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias said on Friday two important meetings
on the refugee issue have been planned on April 14 and April 21-22 in
Thessaloniki, with the participation of neighbouring countries.
Speaking during a briefing of the press, Kotzias said the April 14 meeting
concerns a trilateral conference between the police authorities of Greece,
Albania and Italy, while the second one is a quadripartite meeting of
foreign and interior ministers of Greece, FYROM, Bulgaria and Albania.
In the meeting of foreign ministers, Greece will propose, among others,
holding a wider meeting with countries such as Serbia, Austria, Slovakia
and Croatia to discuss trans-border cooperation and security and the
refugee issue in general, possibly in May or early June.
Kotzias also informed the press that he will meet with United Nations
mediator Matthew Nimetz in the coming days to discuss Greece's initiatives
on FYROM's name issue.
Asked about NATO's operation in the Aegean, the minister said that,
"because of Turkey, the practice followed does not correspond to the
original planning and to what the NATO staff wanted".
[02] Greece returns 97 irregular migrants to Turkey
Greek authorities returned 97 irregular migrants to Turkey through the
border crossing of Kipi in Evros, northeastern Greece, as part of the
bilateral protocol on readmissions signed between Greece and Turkey,
it was announced on Friday.
The nationalities were as follows: 71 Pakistanis, 20 Bangladeshis, 3
Algerians, 2 Iranians and one Moroccan. On Monday, Greece is expected
to readmit another 72 migrants.
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