The Latest on the migrant
influx in Europe (all times local):
6:45 p.m.
The European Union law
enforcement agency Europol says it will recruit up to 200 new investigators to
bolster security checks at migration hotspots in Greece and other countries in
an attempt to identify suspected extremists and criminals.
Europol announced Thursday that
up to 50 "guest officers" will be sent in rotations to "key
points on the external border of the EU" to check the flow of migrants.
The first new officers are expected to be deployed to Greece by the end of
June.
The organization says the new
recruits will enable Europol to reinforce security and help "identify
movements of suspected terrorists." Europol chief Rob Wainwright says they
will help European authorities "safeguard our borders."
———
4:45 p.m.
The European Union wants to speed up the supply of funds to
Syrian refugees in Turkey and
hopes to have 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) available for the effort by the
end of July.
The official in charge of EU
enlargement, Johannes Hahn, said Thursday that so far "close to 200
million euros of projects have been rolled out, and we have a growing number of
further projects in the pipeline."
The EU has pledged to provide 3
billion euros this year and next to help some 2.7 million refugees living in
Turkey. It could give 3 billion more from 2018.
The money is an incentive —
along with visa-free travel in Europe for Turks and fast-track EU membership
talks — for Ankara to stop migrants coming to Europe.
———
11:55 a.m.
A group of 28 refugees from Syria and Iraq have arrived in Slovenia as part of an EU relocation plan to deal
with the migrant crisis.
The refugees came Thursday from
Greece where thousands have been stuck for months following the closure of the
so-called Balkan corridor toward the wealthy EU nations.
Slovenia is slated to take in
567 refugees from Italy and Greece by the end of next year. Authorities say
they will look into each of the asylum requests separately.
Slovenia's interior ministry
says the group that arrived Thursday will be taken first to an asylum center in
the capital of Ljubljana.
More than 500,000 migrants have
passed through Slovenia before EU and Balkan nations imposed restrictions
earlier this year in a bid to control the flow.
———
11:40 a.m.
The European Union has decided
with immediate effect to allow Austria, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway to
keep border controls in place for up to six months to deal with the migrant
influx.
EU headquarters said in a
statement Thursday that the controls should be "targeted and limited in
scope, frequency, location and time, to what is strictly necessary to respond
to the serious threat and to safeguard public policy and internal
security."
It said the countries should
inform each other of exactly where they plan to carry out the controls.
Germany reintroduced ID checks
last year to cope with the arrival of hundreds of thousands of migrants.
Its legal avenues for keeping
the controls in place were set to expire on Friday without this EU decision.
———
11:30 a.m.
Germany's foreign minister says
"the ball is in Turkey's court" as the Turkish government and the
European Union face off over conditions for Turkish citizens to be granted
visa-free travel to Europe.
The visa waiver is one of the
incentives offered by the EU for Turkey to stop migrants leaving for Europe and
take back those who do arrive. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier
acknowledged Thursday "we have a strong interest in this agreement on
migration not collapsing."
Turkey was given conditions to
secure the visa waiver. The main obstacle is Ankara's refusal to narrow its
definition of "terrorist" and "terrorist act" amid concerns
that journalists and political dissenters could be targeted.
Steinmeier said: "If
Turkey fulfills its commitments, then I would be for fulfilling our commitments
and allowing visa liberalization."
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