BRUSSELS, Feb 11 (Reuters) - NATO has agreed to start a mission in the Aegean Sea to help slow refugee flows and to stop people smugglers, German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday.

"It is important that we now act quickly," von der Leyen told reporters in Brussels. (Reporting by Sabine Siebold; Writing by Madeline Chambers; Editing by Caroline Copley)

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.