Nearly 50,000 migrants and refugees arrived at the islands of the northern Aegean in 2019, according to figures released by authorities on Thursday. According to these, a total of 27,148 migrants and refugees arrived on the island of Lesvos, another 8,076 persons arrived on Chios and 10,802 on Samos over the year. The number of arrivals on Lesvos was nearly double that in 2018 (14,906).

Turkish provocations in the Aegean are constantly increasing at sea, as according to the official data of Armed Forces General Staff in 2019 they have already reached 2,032. 

The Greek Minister of Defence Nikos Panagiotopoulos praised the operational capabilities of the Greek Armed Forces, revealing a recent surprise move by the Greek Air Force (HAF) in the Aegean.