Greece’s borders remain open, at least until next EU summit

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras participating in the European Council summit in Brussels which took place on Thursday attempted to ensure a common stance of the European leaders, at least regarding the basic points, to make clear that Greek borders remain open and there is no question of Greece’s expulsion from Shengen area.

Since European Union wants Turkey to honor its commitments and stem refugee flows, the European leaders did not reach any comprehensive conclusions on that and decided to continue their meeting on March 6 with the participation of Turkey.

However, under Greece’s pressure assisted by Germany’s consent, it was agreed that the borders will remain open until the new summit to be held on March 6 and there will be no question of Greece’s expulsion from Shengen. The Prime Minister raised the issue of implementation of EU decisions for readmission and relocation of refugees, but also the effective intervention of NATO to limit refugee flows.

Mr. Tsipras also said that comprehensive and collective solutions need to be found for Europe, adding that if this is not possible, it will be better to postpone the summit’s conclusions document until the EU finds solutions on which everyone agrees on.