Greece says no to joint patrols with Turkey

(Vatican Radio) Greece has turned down a suggestion from Brussels for joint Greek-Turkish naval patrols to stem the flow of Middle Eastern migrants – even as seven more migrants perished yesterday in the waters off the Greek island of Lesbos.

Listen to John Carr's report from Athens

The migrants died when the boat in which they were making the crossing collided with a Greek Navy patrol vessel.  An undetermined number of others are reportedly in the overturned hull, which means the death toll from this incident could rise.

The proposal for joint Greek-Turkish naval patrols came from European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, as a means of tightening up Europe’s vulnerable entry points such as the Aegean Sea.  But Greece fears that the Turkish Navy could use them as an excuse to enter Greek territorial waters, some of which are still disputed, and trigger diplomatic incidents.

On top of that, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who’s now in Brussels for the EU top-level action plan on the migrants, has signalled he’s unwilling to let the military tackle what is essentially a humanitarian problem.