Tsipras-Schulz visit Lesvos
- Written by E.Tsiliopoulos
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and European Parliament President Martin Schulz are due to visit Lesvos island today, which has received more than half of some 600,000 refugees and migrants who have arrived in Greece this year.
More than 15 thousand refugees are stuck on the island due to the continuous strike of Seamen Federation PNO. Shipping Minister Thodoris Dristas met with the PNO’s leadership yesterday in an effort to persuade the organization to service the emergency routes from Mytilene to the port of Piraeus. The PNO did not compromise and thus these refugees will have to wait at least until Friday morning.
The impact of the strike in conjunction with the refugee crisis, which peaked in October with 210,000 is severe. Three passenger ships which were scheduled to transport migrants and refugees from Lesvos to the port of Piraeus are docked at the island’s port of Mytilene and will likely remain there until the strike ends.
Five persons, among them two children, drowned early Wednesday off the coasts of Lesvos.
Another incident took place at the sea area Psalidi, near the island of Kos, when a vessel was capsized late last night. One child drowned, while 14 people have been rescued.
Liberation daily has dedicated its front page to the 108 children that have drowned in the Aegean sea since September, having as a title the phrase “Every day two Aylan”.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has asked for the improvement of the european legislation regarding asylum.
