Laws, Regulations & Policies

Russian tourists might not be traveling to Turkey this year due to the escalating military conflict between the two countries, but they are not opting to visit Greece either, Greek tourism sector insiders are saying, citing the tedious and time-consuming visa procedure as the reason.

The European Commission said on Wednesday, that Greece had made progress on the construction of the so-called hotspots or refugee reception centers, four of which opened this week on Lesvos, Chios, Samos and Leros.

In efforts to curb the number of incoming refugees via illegal means, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has ordered the immediate deployment of Alliance ships to the Aegean.

Five screening centers on the Greek islands of Lesvos, Samos, Chios, Kos and Leros, will be ready on February 15, to manage the registration procedure for the ever-growing number of refugees entering Europe through Greece, Defence Minister Panos Kammenos told European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship Dimitris Avramopoulos in Brussels on Tuesday.

The Greek Tourism Ministry on Thursday invited local authorities to cooperate for the smooth operation of identification centres, the so-called hotspots, on the Aegean islands where migrants and refugees are disembarking.

The Greek government said on Sunday that it would move faster to complete five hotspots on the islands bearing the brunt of incoming refugees and two relocation camps on the mainland, with the defense ministry stepping in to ensure they are set up in two weeks’ time.

Greece is among five European countries that may have to face being ousted from the US visa waiver program if it doesn’t deal with the “crucial loopholes” in its security system, news magazine Politico reported on Thursday.

Boosting tourism to Greece via cruise travel and package deals were two of the actions that Alternate Tourism Minister Elena Kountoura and her Israeli counterpart Yariv Levin agreed on during her visit to Jerusalem within the framework of the Greece-Israel High-Level Cooperation Council this week.

Greece may be kicked out of the Schengen zone which allows passport free travel within the EU after the Commission said on Wednesday that the country was failing to secure its borders.

A ban excluding franchise companies in Greece from being eligible for EU funding may be lifted, according to reports by Greek financial daily Naftemporiki.