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German Chancellor Angela Merkel wants to convince EU states to take part in a Franco-German initiative to host child refugees from the burned Moria camp. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called for the initiative, Merkel said Thursday at an event organized by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Berlin.
Merkel said she would like to thank the EU Commission, which is making a further attempt to distribute the refugees. In addition, Germany will comply with the Greek government’s request to help with the care and accommodation of the refugees from the burned-out camp on the island of Lesbos.
Not a word about distribution
Merkel also had a video conference with her Austrian counterpart Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) on Thursday. As the Federal Chancellery later said, Moria was not a problem. It was about the preparation of the extraordinary EU summit at the end of September. Germany currently holds the Presidency of the EU. This means that Merkel has a special coordinating role together with the President of the EU Council, Charles Michel.
In Austria, in addition to the opposition parties SPÖ and NEOS, the co-ruling Greens are also pushing for the Moria refugees to be accepted. However, the ÖVP is strictly against it. Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg (ÖVP) rejected the corresponding demands on Wednesday night on ORF’s “ZiB2” and spoke of “shouting for distribution”. At the same time, referring to his contacts with the Greek conservative government, he said: “I spoke three times today with my Greek colleague, I spoke with the vice president of the Schinas Commission, the word distribution or takeover of refugees or unaccompanied children did not occur. Not once was it a problem at all in these conversations. ” (apa, reuters)
