The European Commission has decided to send 4,000 expert officials in its effort to assist Greece on the refugee/migrant crisis. Responding to the press on the arrival of over 15 hundred more refugees in Greece since the official implementation of the EU-Turkey sea on Sunday, the Commission’s spokesperson Margaritis Schinas said the body was ‘aware of the difficulties’. Schinas underlined that 4,000 expert staff are expected to be in Greece until March 28 in order to ensure a smooth implementation of the agreement on the Greek islands. France and Germany agreed to dispatch 400 police officers and 100 officials on asylum matter, respectively, after a meeting between the EC and Greek authorities over the past weekend. EC sources say that EU technical teams will be on sight at the Greek islands to oversee the progress of the refugee counting on the part of Turkish officials to guarantee that everything is running according to the agreed plan. The European Council agreed on reforming the relocation mechanism agreed upon at the July EU Summit which provides for the relocation of 54,000 more refugees from Turkey to EU countries, like Hungary as part of its quota obligation. The Commission has also dispatched a team of legal experts to Athens to aid in the reform of the legal framework so that Greece recognises Turkey as ‘safe country of origin’, in order for the return of refugees from Greece to Turkey to commence.
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