AEGEAN SEA — Greek and German vessels operating for the U.S.-led NATO alliance patrolled the Aegean sea Wednesday and Thursday (March 3) in a bid to help counter criminal networks smuggling refugees into Europe.
The mission is not yet at full steam but should be fully operational before an EU-Turkey summit in Brussels on March 7.
On February 25, NATO envoys set out how ships sent to the Aegean in early February can work with Turkish and Greek coastguards and the European Union border agency Frontex to rescue refugees at sea and return them to Turkey.
NATO Secretary-General, Jens Stoltenberg said other NATO vessels will be able to sail in the territorial waters of Greece and Turkey; Greek and Turkish forces would not operate in each other’s territorial waters.
Germany, which has pushed the plan to complement an EU accord with Turkey to stem the flow of refugees arriving in Europe, hopes the mission will effectively seal the maritime border, although NATO says its crews will stop migrant boats only if they are in distress.
A Greek Navy officer operating onboard Hellenic Navy Vessel HS Salamis, Lieutenant Konstantinos Chouzouris said the mission consists mainly of the surveillance of migrant boats circulating between Turkey and Greece.
“The duties that we have to perform here in our deployment in the Aegean Sea is to conduct ISR operations, that is Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance operations. To that end, we use the full spectrum of the sensors, for example the radar to detect small migrant boats coming from Turkey to the Greek islands, visual observation and of course our helicopter, which is capable of scanning a wide area, very fast, very accurately and even during night,” Chouzouris said.
The mission will initially be led by Germany navy, which commands the fleet that NATO has sent to the Aegean.
The EU is relying on Turkey to help stem the flow of Syrians fleeing civil war, giving Ankara 3 billion euros to set up centres and resettle refugees, although progress in implementing the deal has been slow.
In one sign of possible progress, Turkey has offered to sign readmission agreements with 14 countries, the foreign ministry’s spokesman said on Wednesday (March 2), a move which would enable it to take back more quickly migrants rejected by the EU.
More than one million people arrived in Europe last year, fleeing war and failing states in the Middle East, North Africa and Asia. New arrivals have decreased in the last few months, partially due to harsh weather conditions but are expected to remain high.
