First Vice-President Timmermans and Commissioner Avramopoulos in Greece today and tomorrow to offer support for refugee crisis

Today, First Vice-President Timmermans and Commissioner Avramopoulos will be travelling to Athens and Kos, as part of the Commission’s visits to several of the Member States most affected by the refugee crisis, to discuss the necessary support measures. In Athens, they will meet all the relevant interlocutors in the Greek authorities, including interim Prime Minister Vassiliki Thanou and a number of ministers. They aim to make sure that the Greek authorities will finalise as soon as possible all necessary requirements to disburse the funding under the EU Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) allocated to Greece in August, as well as to agree on the concrete steps to roll-out the Hotspot approach in Piraeus. This will enable Frontex, EASO and Europol to work hand in hand with Greek authorities in providing the necessary response. On Friday, First Vice-President Timmermans and Commissioner Avramopoulos will travel to Kos, to meet with the Governor of the South Aegean Region and the Mayor of Kos, as well as the Hellenic Coast Guard and Police. They will also meet with UNHCR, IOM, Médecins Sans Frontières and the Red Cross, who are dealing with the situation on the ground. The visit will be concluded by a press conference at 13:00 local time (12:00 CET) which will be transmitted live on EbS.The visit will be concluded by a meeting with the President of the Hellenic Republic, Mr Prokopis Pavlopoulos in Athens.