A migrant woman and her child are seen at the Eleonas refugee camp, in Athens, Greece, on April 21, 2021. Slovakia sees irregular migration as a European problem, Slovak Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Ivan Korcok said here on Wednesday, supporting the Greek government's call for more fair burden-sharing among EU member countries to address the challenge. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos)
ATHENS, April 21 (Xinhua) -- Slovakia sees irregular migration as a European problem, Slovak Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Ivan Korcok said here on Wednesday, supporting the Greek government's call for more fair burden-sharing among EU member countries to address the challenge.
After talks on bilateral and regional issues, Korcok visited Eleonas refugee camp in an Athens district with Greek Minister for Migration and Asylum Notis Mitarachi.
"I wanted to use this opportunity to express our recognition and respect to Greece for what it is doing ... Greek people are carrying the burden of providing shelter and refuge to many people," he told Xinhua and other media.
Slovakia is ready to contribute one million euros (1.2 million U.S. dollars) to help mitigate some negative impacts of migration in Greece, he tweeted later.
"The need for more European solidarity in practice is clear," Mitarachi said.
Since the closure of borders along the Balkan route to central Europe in 2016, tens of thousands of refugees and migrants have been stranded in Greece. The temporary reception camps, in particular on five Greek islands, have been overflowing due to delays in the assessment of asylum claims and relocations to other states as well as returns.
Early last year, 92,000 people were hosted in such facilities across Greece, and in March 2021 the number had dropped below 60,000, according to data released by the Greek ministry recently. Enditem
