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WORLD NEWSThursday 3 March 2016
Greece prepares to help up to 150,000 stranded migrants
COSTAS KANTOURIS Greek police took down
his details wrong, which
DEREK GATOPOULOS meant the date of birth
on his official papers and
Associated Press passport didn’t match.
“I showed Greek authorities
THESSALONIKI, Greece my papers — I was born on
July 24, 1963 — and they
(AP) — Greece conceded recorded my date of birth
as Jan. 1, 1963. As a result,
Wednesday it is making I was unable to cross the
border ... It’s happened
long-term preparations to to others too,” he said,
adding that the error was
help as many as 150,000 eventually corrected.
Mouzalas, the migration
stranded migrants as inter- minister, met for several
hours with mayors from
national pressure on Bal- across Greece, examining
ways to ramp up shelter
kan countries saw Mace- capacity. The ministers of
health and education also
donia open its border brief- held emergency talks to
provide health care and
ly for just a few hundred basic schooling for chil-
dren, who make up about
refugees. a third of arrivals in Greece.
Nikos Kotzias, the foreign
“In my opinion, we have minister, said the country
could handle a capacity
to consider the border of up to 150,000.
“No one in Europe pre-
closed,” Greek Migration dicted this problem would
reach such a giant scale,”
Minister Ioannis Mouzalas Kotzias told private Skai
television. “But this is not a
said. “And for as long as the cause for panic. The prob-
lems must be addressed
border crossing is closed, soberly.” Macedonia in-
termittently opened the
and until the European re- border Wednesday, letting
hundreds of people in, as
location and resettlement European Council Presi-
dent Donald Tusk arrived
system is up and running, Tents with refugees and migrants stand at the Greek-Macedonian border near the northern Greek in the country as part of a
village of Idomeni. Macedonia intermittently opened its border with Greece to a tiny trickle of tour of the region for talks
these people will stay in our Syrian and Iraqi refugees on Wednesday, March 2, 2016 , leaving about 10,000 more people on the migration crisis.
camped on the Greek side, with more arriving daily. Tusk, who is due to travel
country for some time.” onto Greece and Turkey
(Vassilis Ververidis/Motion Team via AP) Thursday, is hoping to ease
At the moment, some tension among European
Union leaders — notably
30,000 refugees and other neighbors Austria and Ger-
many — before they hold
migrants are stranded in dren, continued to arrive man who fainted after be- peratures, some expressing a summit on migration on
at two official camps by ing turned back by Mace- frustration with bureaucrat- Monday with Turkey. q
Greece, with 10,000 at the the border that are so full donian authorities. Others ic errors by Greek officials.
that thousands have set up waited stoically for rain Syrian Ramasan Al Hassan
Idomeni border crossing to tents in surrounding fields. covers, or food and other said he was stopped from
Greek police helped one essentials in chilling tem- crossing the border after
Macedonia. On Wednes-
day, hundreds of more
people, including many
families with small chil-
Spain:
Socialist Party loses 1st bid to form government
ALAN CLENDENNING with 219 against and one Party and Podemos insist- business-friendly Ciudada-
Associated Press abstention. The conserva- ed after the first vote that nos.
MADRID (AP) — Spain’s So- tive Popular Party led by their members would not Podemos and Cuidadanos
cialist Party lost its first at- acting Prime Minister Mari- change course. got third and fourth place
tempt Wednesday to form ano Rajoy and the far-left Sanchez, swarmed by jour- because of voter outrage
a government, falling far newcomer Podemos party nalists as he left Parliament, over Spain’s 21 percent
short of the parliamentary joined with several small re- declined comment on his unemployment rate, un-
votes needed ahead of gional parties to deny San- plans for trying to win the popular austerity measures
a second ballot set for Fri- chez’ attempt at becom- second vote. invoked
day that looks unlikely to ing prime minister. Wednesday night’s vote by the Popular Party dur-
solve the country’s political Fierce negotiations are sure came after an inconclu- ing its 2011-2015 rule and
paralysis following a frag- to take place ahead of the sive Dec. 20 election that corruption scandals hitting
mented national election fresh parliamentary vote saw Spain’s traditional two- the Popular and Social-
two months ago. Friday night on Sanchez’ party system shattered with ist parties that have alter-
The Socialists led by Pedro candidacy. the entry of Podemos and nated ruling the nation for
Sanchez got just 130 votes, But leaders of the Popular another upstart party, the decades.q
