Island mayors ask PM for transfer of migrants

The mayors of Lesvos, Chios, Samos, Kos and Leros on Monday jointly presented their demands for measures to ease severe overcrowding at migrant reception centers on their islands during a meeting in Athens with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.

According to government sources, the meeting was held in a cordial climate and both sides agreed it remained imperative that an agreement between Ankara and the European Union to curb human smuggling across the Aegean must not be allowed to collapse.

However, though the sources described the mayors' demands as "logical," it remained unclear what action, if any, the government plans to respond with.

In the meeting with Tsipras, which was also attended by senior officials of the Central Union of Municipalities and Communities of Greece (KEDKE), the mayors emphasized that the situation on the islands was very tense and...