ORAC
11th Feb 2016, 16:20
Or something like that.......
72 hours to launch NATO’s migrant mission (http://www.politico.eu/article/72-hours-to-launch-natos-migrant-mission-refugees-asylum-greece-turkey/)
Officials pulled off the seemingly impossible, to get the Greeks to agree to a Turkish idea.
It appeared the tallest of tall orders. German government officials were given just three days to turn a seemingly unworkable idea — sending NATO ships to the Aegean Sea to deter people-smugglers from taking migrants from Turkey to Greece — into an official proposal with the backing of all NATO allies.
In the space of 72 hours, they had done it. By Thursday morning, Jens Stoltenberg, the alliance’s secretary general, was telling reporters about a plan to begin the mission “without delay.” The mission “will be tasked to conduct reconnaissance, monitoring and surveillance of the illegal crossings in the Aegean Sea in cooperation with relevant authorities, and to establish a direct link with the European Union’s border management agency Frontex,” Stoltenberg said..........
When the idea first came up on Monday, it seemed unlikely that it would ever come to fruition: A military alliance doing the job of police forces and coast guard agencies; NATO meddling in the EU’s struggle to protect its maritime borders; the Americans getting involved in affairs they see as purely European; and, most importantly, Athens agreeing to an idea that originated in Ankara, when the two governments barely communicate..........
First came the technicalities, and here NATO was fortunate. Its Standing Maritime Group 2, made up of five ships at present, is already deployed in the Mediterranean, with the German supply vessel Bonn taking the lead, backed up by Italian, Canadian and, importantly, Turkish and Greek navies. Three of those ships are ready to help tackle the migration crisis, Stoltenberg said. On Thursday, diplomatic sources told POLITICO, three more countries had pledged ships, including Denmark. A senior NATO staff member said the numbers were already large enough to efficiently carry out the operation........
“as part of the agreement, Greek and Turkish armed forces will not operate in each other’s territorial waters or airspace,” Stoltenberg said Thursday........
The third hurdle was the hardest to overcome, the Germans believed: Making sure the NATO mission wouldn’t end up acting as a transport company for migrants, as the EU’s rescue operations in the Mediterranean were perceived by many.
While the mission’s mandate does not involve stopping or pushing back boats, international law does require NATO vessels to rescue people who risk drowning. But when NATO ships rescue people, they’ll take them back to Turkey rather than on to Greece. “That’s important. Turkey doesn’t make any trouble taking people back,” the German source said.
72 hours to launch NATO’s migrant mission (http://www.politico.eu/article/72-hours-to-launch-natos-migrant-mission-refugees-asylum-greece-turkey/)
Officials pulled off the seemingly impossible, to get the Greeks to agree to a Turkish idea.
It appeared the tallest of tall orders. German government officials were given just three days to turn a seemingly unworkable idea — sending NATO ships to the Aegean Sea to deter people-smugglers from taking migrants from Turkey to Greece — into an official proposal with the backing of all NATO allies.
In the space of 72 hours, they had done it. By Thursday morning, Jens Stoltenberg, the alliance’s secretary general, was telling reporters about a plan to begin the mission “without delay.” The mission “will be tasked to conduct reconnaissance, monitoring and surveillance of the illegal crossings in the Aegean Sea in cooperation with relevant authorities, and to establish a direct link with the European Union’s border management agency Frontex,” Stoltenberg said..........
When the idea first came up on Monday, it seemed unlikely that it would ever come to fruition: A military alliance doing the job of police forces and coast guard agencies; NATO meddling in the EU’s struggle to protect its maritime borders; the Americans getting involved in affairs they see as purely European; and, most importantly, Athens agreeing to an idea that originated in Ankara, when the two governments barely communicate..........
First came the technicalities, and here NATO was fortunate. Its Standing Maritime Group 2, made up of five ships at present, is already deployed in the Mediterranean, with the German supply vessel Bonn taking the lead, backed up by Italian, Canadian and, importantly, Turkish and Greek navies. Three of those ships are ready to help tackle the migration crisis, Stoltenberg said. On Thursday, diplomatic sources told POLITICO, three more countries had pledged ships, including Denmark. A senior NATO staff member said the numbers were already large enough to efficiently carry out the operation........
“as part of the agreement, Greek and Turkish armed forces will not operate in each other’s territorial waters or airspace,” Stoltenberg said Thursday........
The third hurdle was the hardest to overcome, the Germans believed: Making sure the NATO mission wouldn’t end up acting as a transport company for migrants, as the EU’s rescue operations in the Mediterranean were perceived by many.
While the mission’s mandate does not involve stopping or pushing back boats, international law does require NATO vessels to rescue people who risk drowning. But when NATO ships rescue people, they’ll take them back to Turkey rather than on to Greece. “That’s important. Turkey doesn’t make any trouble taking people back,” the German source said.