NATO is sending a naval group “without delay” to help stop people smugglers in the Aegean Sea, following a request from Germany, Greece and Turkey, alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg says.
NATO “is now directing the standing maritime group to move into the Aegean without delay and start maritime surveillance activities”, Stoltenberg tells a press conference after alliance defense ministers backed the move.
He says the migrant crisis, driven by conflict and turmoil across the Middle East and North Africa, was the worst since World War II and posed a major security threat to the 28-nation alliance.
Refugees and migrants arrive at the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey on October 1, 2015. (AFP PHOTO/ARIS MESSINIS)
NATO Standing Maritime Group 2, currently under German command, comprises three ships and allies had promised more so it can carry out “reconnaissance, monitoring and surveillance in the Aegean Sea,” he says.
“This is not about stopping and pushing back (refugees)… but about critical surveillance to help counter human trafficking and criminal networks,” he says.
NATO would work closely with the European Union and its border control agency Frontex, he adds.
— AFP
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