Only Greece has responded in a positive manner to the German request for refoulement of refugees, according to a report by German medium Deutsche Welle, with Austria and Italy remaining negative to the prospect of refugees being sent back to their countries. After Albania refused to set up permanent asylum centres, FYROM followed suit, also rejecting the formation of camps on its territory.

Speaking to German media outlets, Greece’s Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias (Spiegel-Online) and Minister of Migration Policy Dimitris Vitsas (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung) assured that Greece intended to sign an agreement with Germany on the refoulement of refugees.

German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, with whom Mr Vitsas is scheduled to meet in the framework of the two-day meeting of EU interior ministers in Innsbruck, Austria has expressed the hope that the agreements with Greece as well as with Austria and Italy will be signed until the beginning of August.

However, currently, only Athens has shown a willingness to accommodate the German request.