BRUSSELS: Greece said on Friday it would investigate reports that some of its officials were illegally pushing back migrants at the border, a day after Brussels pressed it to look into the accusations.
Several European media outlets reported this week that Greek and Croatian officials were illegally and sometimes violently pushing back migrants. The European Union’s executive called for an investigation on Thursday.
Reuters has not independently verified the media reports.
Greek Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi said on Friday he had told EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson that the claims would be investigated.
“Every claim made is investigated by the judiciary and by our internal audit,” he told reporters at an EU meeting in Luxembourg.
Johansson earlier said Croatia had promised to investigate the accusations and she had made it clear to Greece that it needed to do the same.
She said EU countries needed to protect the bloc’s external borders, but they also had to uphold values, the rule of law and fundamental rights.
Under international law, migrants have a right to claim asylum and it is forbidden to send potential asylum-seekers back to where their lives or well-being might be in danger.
Croatia’s Interior Minister, Davor Bozinovic, said on Thursday police would conduct an investigation. He added that Croatian border police acted in line with the law and did not tolerate any abuse of authority.
Greece promises investigation into migrant pushback accusations
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Greece promises investigation into migrant pushback accusations
- Several European media outlets reported this week that Greek and Croatian officials were illegally and sometimes violently pushing back migrants
- Greek migration minister said Friday he had told EU Home Affairs Commissioner that the claims would be investigated
US not expanding military objectives in Iran, Hegseth says
- Iran’s regional retaliation strengthen US alliances, Hegseth says
- US forces destroy 30 Iranian warships, including drone carrier
TAMPA, Florida: US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Thursday the United States was not expanding its military objectives in Iran, after President Donald Trump told Reuters the United States must be involved in choosing the next leader of Iran.
The Pentagon earlier this week said the military campaign, known as Operation Epic Fury, is focused on destroying Iran’s offensive missiles, missile production and navy, while not allowing Tehran to have a nuclear weapon.
“There’s no expansion in our objectives. We know exactly what we’re trying to achieve,” Hegseth said.
He added that Trump was “having a heck of a say in who runs Iran given the ongoing operation.”
In a telephone interview with Reuters on Thursday, Trump said the United States would have to help pick the next person to lead the country. The US and Israeli military campaign that started on Saturday has hit targets across the country and triggered Iranian retaliatory strikes in the region as Tehran seeks to impose a high cost on the United States, Israel and their allies.
Iran has attacked countries including Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Fire crews in Bahrain extinguished a blaze at a refinery following a missile strike.
Azerbaijan became the latest country drawn in, as it accused Iran of firing drones at its territory and ordered its southern airspace closed for 12 hours.
Hegseth said by striking countries in the region, Iran would only bring them closer to the United States.
“It’s actually firming up the unity of the resistance in order to focus exactly where we need to,” Hegseth said.
Next phase of operations
The United States has hit more than 2,000 targets in Iran, including Iranian warships. Admiral Brad Cooper, the head of US Central Command, said US forces had destroyed 30 Iranian warships, including an Iranian drone carrier ship earlier on Thursday.
Cooper said the United States was hitting Iran’s ability to rebuild.
“As we transition to the next phase of this operation, we will systematically dismantle Iran’s missile production capability for the future, and that’s absolutely in progress,” Cooper said, adding that it would take some time.
The US military has identified the six US Army Reserve soldiers killed when a drone slammed into a US military facility in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait.
Trump and other senior officials have warned the Iran conflict will result in more US military deaths.
Hegseth, during the press conference, said Iran was making a mistake if it believed that the United States could not sustain the ongoing war, adding that Washington had just begun to fight.
“Iran is hoping that we cannot sustain this, which is a really bad miscalculation,” Hegseth said. “We set the timeline.”
