The Shipping ministry will proceed with a temporary plan to limit the refugee flow from the islands,in order to develop new temporary hosting facilities for refugees and migrants in Attica and other regions of the country, Shipping Minister Thodoris Dritsas on Friday said in statements to MEGA TV.

In an worsening of relations between the two countries, Greece has turned down a request by Austrian Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner to visit Athens for explanations.

The Hellenic navy will assist a NATO naval force tasked with patrolling the eastern Aegean in a bid to stem the flow of Mideast war refugees and irregular migrants being ferried onto Greek territory from the neighboring Turkish coast.