EU's Timmermans, Avramopoulos in Athens on Thursday to discuss refugee process centre in Piraeus
The Vice-president of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans and Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, Dimitris Avramopoulos will be in Greece for a two-day visit on Thursday to discuss the creation of a refugee ‘hot-spot’ in Piraeus that would speed up the identification process and help tackling the migration crisis in the country, the representation of the European Commission in Greece confirmed to ANA-MPA on Tuesday.
The two EU officials, who will be accompanied by representatives of FRONTEX, the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) and Europol, will meet with the relevant Greek ministers in Piraeus on Thursday night to discuss the plans for a center that will accelerate the process of identification, grant asylum to those who meet the criteria and coordinate the return of those deemed as irregular migrants back to their countries.
On Friday, Timmermans and Avramopoulos will visit Kos and hold a press conference at noon.
