Minister Ohisalo will attend an extraordinary meeting of EU home affairs ministers in Brussels

Minister of the Interior Maria Ohisalo will attend an extraordinary meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council on 4 March. The home affairs ministers of EU Member States will meet in Brussels to discuss the current situation at the Greek-Turkish border.

“It is very important that the EU Member States work together to support Greece in its efforts to manage the external border and to deal with the difficult migration situation at the Greek-Turkish border. Fundamental and human rights and international obligations must be respected in all EU activities,” says Minister of the Interior Ohisalo.

The EU countries in the Mediterranean region play a key role in managing migration to Europe. 

Finland supports Mediterranean countries in a difficult situation

To alleviate the humanitarian situation of asylum seekers in the Mediterranean countries at the external borders, the Government decided at the end of February that Finland would receive 175 asylum seekers from the Mediterranean region. Finland will receive primarily unaccompanied minors and single-parent families who are likely to have grounds for international protection and who come from countries where security is particularly poor, such as Syria and Afghanistan. 

Asylum seekers could be relocated from Greece, Cyprus, Malta and Italy, depending on where the situation is the most serious.

The Finnish Immigration Service will continue to participate in the operations of the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) with four experts in 2020. The experts support the national asylum process in Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Malta by conducting asylum interviews and making recommendations for decisions.

The Finnish Border Guard, in turn, supports external border control in Greece through Frontex. A joint operation, Poseidon, is under way at the Greek-Turkish sea border, in which the Border Guard has a patrol boat and a total of 14 border guards deployed in different positions. Border Guard personnel are deployed in Frontex operations not only in Greece but also in Italy, Albania and Bulgaria.

Greece has also requested material assistance through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, in particular tents, mobile toilet and sanitary facilities and first aid equipment and supplies. Finland is currently examining the possibility of sending assistance to Greece. This could include, for example tents and blankets.

Inquiries
Laura Yli-Vakkuri, Director General, tel. +358 40 720 2216, laura.yli-vakkuri@intermin.fi  
Jarno Lappalainen, Special Adviser to the Minister of the Interior, tel. +358 40 053 6973