Log in
A+ A A-

Greek stocks extend decline for eighth successive session‏

There is no legal provision for removing Greece from the Schengen area but countries on Greece's border could close their borders, Alternate Migration Policy Minister Yiannis Mouzalas warned in Parliament on Thursday.

"We share a border with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (fYRoM), which is not in the Schengen zone. There is an issue there and for this we are preparing in two ways. First we must be meet our obligations and secondly, based on the studies we have carried out, we must be able to handle the problem in the case that tens of thousands of refugees and migrants are unable to leave," he said.

The minister estimated that the cost of the refugee crisis for Greece exceeded one billion euros, higher than the Bank of Greece estimate of 600 million euros, while he strongly criticised the EU and its bureaucracy for the failure, until now, to disburse Community funds earmarked for tackling the refugee crisis.

He also assured MPs that the Greek government was ready to battle proposals that were unacceptable.

"We have submitted new applications. The bureaucracy, unfortunately, is not only very great in Greece but also in the EU. We are pressing hard in the direction of quick disbursement," he said.