Greece Promises to Open Refugee Reception Centers, Camps by February 15

Greek Defense Minister Panos Kammenos promised on Tuesday that the country would complete the setting up of five migrant registration centers and two refugee camps before February 15, the Greek Defense Ministry said in a statement.

ATHENS (Sputnik) — Kammenos made the statement at the meeting with European Commissioner for Migration Dimitris Avramopoulos in Brussels, the statement said.

Several European countries demanded to exclude Greece from the Schengen area, if it fails to deal with the influx of refugees. Following the critics, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras urged to prepare hotspots — centers of registration and identification of refugees coming into the country from Turkey and heading to other European countries by the next EU Summit that is scheduled for February 18-19.

Europe is struggling to find a solution to a massive refugee crisis, with hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing conflict-torn countries in the Middle East and North Africa.

Many of them take the West Balkan route, which crosses Greece, using the county as an entry-point to the bloc from where they travel to wealthier EU states where they intend to apply for asylum.

Germany and Austria are among the refugees’ most popular destinations. The EU border agency Frontex detected over 1.55 million illegal border crossings in 2015.