11.00 News in brief

Students in Athens will gather on Syntagma square at noon to call for action against climate change, joining their voices to a global movement called #fridaysforfuture.

The Prime Minister’s hour is underway in the Greek Parliament.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called for a common EU policy on asylum seekers and on the continent’s external border protection, speaking during the second day of the European People’s Party (EPP) Congress in Zagreb.

Mitsotakis also accused Ankara of using the migration crisis for leverage in international negotiations and said that Europe cannot be blackmailed on this issue.

In the meantime, Alternate Minister of Migration Policy Giorgos Koumoutsakos, noted that migrant arrivals have increased by 240% since May.

Speaking to AFP on a visit to Washington, Giorgos Koumoutsakos voiced alarm over threats by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and other Turkish officials to “open the gates” to Europe if it does not provide more support.

Greece’s Coast Guard said Friday it rescued 400 refugees and migrants in the last 24 hours in 10 different incidents in the sea area near the city Alexandroupolis and the islands of Lesvos and Chios.

Authorities also arrested three people believed to be migrant traffickers.

Meanwhile, two ferries carrying 96 refugees and migrants from the islands of Chios, zeros and Kos arrived at the port of Piraeus on Friday morning, as part of the government’s efforts to decongest migrant camps.

The new arrivals will be sent to different accommodation facilities in the mainland.

And the weather forecast…

Partly cloudy in Attica this morning. The temperature today will reach a high of 22 degrees Celsius.

More news in brief Monday morning at 9.