Athens: Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Thursday urged EU peers to provide more aid for his cash-strapped nation, which is in the front line of the bloc's refugee crisis, reports said.
Kathimerini daily said Tsipras would make the appeal at a European summit on Thursday for ‘more forces from (EU border agency) Frontex and a faster disbursement of funds.’
In a phone call with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday, Tsipras also said that it was wiser to handle the refugee flow in Turkey, before it reaches Greece, Ta Nea daily reported.
According to the newspaper, the Greek leader also pressed for an EU decision on what to do with Afghans, who are not currently entitled to refugee status.
And Tsipras said Greek islands receiving the bulk of the refugees should get some benefits, potentially in the form of tax breaks, government officials told the daily. His office did not immediately comment on the reports.
A terse Greek government statement on Wednesday said Tsipras and Merkel had discussed the management of refugee issues and Merkel's trip to Turkey this weekend.
Frontex recently called on member states to provide nearly 800 additional staff for EU border duty, but only around 50 staff have been promised this far.
With no end in sight to Syria's four-year war, the EU has been toughening its stance in recent months over the flow of migrants, amounting to nearly 600,000 into Europe, this year alone.
The EU leaders on Thursday are to discuss a possible EU border guard system and other ways of strengthening the bloc's external borders.
They will also look at the future of the EU's Dublin asylum regulations, which say that refugees must seek asylum in the first EU country where they land.
