BRUSSELS – Four EU member-states have told the extraordinary Council of Justice and Home Affairs Ministers that they will relocate unaccompanied children from Greece to their countries, Alternate Migration and Asylum Minister Giorgos Koumoutsakos said in an interview with the Athens-Macedonian News Agency on Thursday.

Koumoutsakos pointed out that “for a long time there has been no willingness by Member States to take unaccompanied children to their territory” and the action of the four countries is “a sign of solidarity, which initiates a momentum.”

Commenting on the message from the Council in Brussels, Koumoutsakos stressed that “solidarity with Greece was complete and strong,” while at the same time condemning Turkish policy “for its unacceptable practice of exploiting migrants for political reasons.”

Chrisohoidis, Gerapetritis, Koumoutsakos ask for EU’s help on border crisis

At Wednesday’s Justice and Home Affairs Council on migration held in Brussels, Greece’s Ministers of State Giorgos Gerapetritis, of Citizen Protection Michalis Chrisohoidis and Alternate Migration and Asylum Minister Giorgos Koumoutsakos explained the tense situation at the Greek-Turkish border and asked for EU’s help.

“Greece has faced this impending threat with the utmost resilience and will continue to do so, not only ensuring its national sovereignty but also the integrity of the EU’s external borders,” Gerapetritis said.