Giorgos Koumoutsakos

Greece's migration policy minister says the European Union's Mediterranean states are in a better position to convince other EU partners to help them cope with migrant arrivals.

Amid an increase in the influx of undocumented migrants from Turkey, Alternate Citizens' Protection Minister Giorgos Koumoutsakos, who is responsible for migration policy, has said that Europe's migration problem is beyond Greece's capabilities to handle independently. 

Greece says it is resuming deportations of migrants to Turkey in an effort to address an increase in arrivals over the summer months that have worsened overcrowding at camps on the islands.

Greek officials met on Wednesday in Athens with a delegation of German specialists on issues of migration to discuss arrivals of third-country nationals and find ways of collaborating.

The Greek government is deeply concerned over the reported 17 percent increase in migrant and refugee arrivals in recent weeks, says Alternate Minister for Citizens' Protection Giorgos Koumoutsakos, who is responsible for Greece's migration policy, in an interview with Kathimerini. More than 20,000 people are currently stranded on the Greek islands of Lesvos, Samos, Chios, Kos and Leros.

The head of the Moria migrant processing center on the eastern Aegean island of Lesvos, Yiannis Balpakakis, does not rule out resigning, saying that he is exhausted of dealing with the challenges of overcrowding.

Alternate Minister of Citizens' Protection Giorgos Koumoutsakos (also responsible for migration issues) on Tuesday met with MPs representing Greece's eastern Aegean islands to discuss the ongoing migration crisis and its impact on local communities.

Migration is a huge challenge for all European countries and demands a commonly-arrived at solution, Alternate Migration Minister Giorgos Koumoutsakos said on Thursday on his arrival at a European Union summit in Helsinki.

"It demands a common solution and a common reaction on a European Union level," he said.

Following talks with European Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos on Monday, Prime Minister Kyriakos on Monday had another meeting with key cabinet officials whom he asked to focus on six key areas in curbing the impact of migration inflows.

The joint statements on Thursday by Foreign Minister Giorgos Katrougalos and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in Antalya, that Ankara should not be excluded from the unfolding energy game in the Eastern Mediterranean, sparked a war of words between the government and opposition New Democracy.