Greece protests to Austria over "unfriendly" Vienna meeting on migrant crisis

Greece's government filed a formal protest with Austria over its "unfriendly" decision to call a meeting of Balkan states over the migrant crisis, but excluding Greece, the Greek foreign ministry announced on Tuesday.

The Austrian ambassador to Athens was summoned to the foreign ministry to receive the demarche over Vienna's "unilateral and unfriendly" initiative to host a conference of interior ministers and foreign ministers of Austria and the Balkan states on Wednesday, the Greek ministry statement said.

A similar formal complaint was filed by the Greek ambassador to the Austrian foreign ministry in Vienna in protest of an "attempt to take decisions in the absence of Greece on matters that directly concern it."

Responding to Greece's criticism, the Austrian government argued it was not the first time Vienna had called such a regional meeting to discuss common challenges without inviting Greece.

According to Greek national news agency AMNA, Austrian interior ministry spokesperson Karl-Heinz Grundboeck commented that in several cases in the past Vienna has held talks with the Western Balkan countries.

The Austrian official also stressed that the outcome of Wednesday's discussions would be addressed during the upcoming meeting of EU interior and justice ministers on Thursday in Brussels.

Shortly before, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras had expressed Athens' discontent during a telephone conversation with his Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte over the EU's "weakness to ensure the implementation of the unanimous decision regarding the refugee issue that was reached at the recent European Council meeting (Friday)," according to an e-mailed press release from his office.

The Greek leader contacted Rutte because Netherlands holds EU's rotating presidency during the first half of 2016.

Referring to the Vienna meeting, Tsipras underlined the need for decisions regarding the management of refugee flows to be taken "collectively and without exclusions," the statement said.

Greek foreign minister Nikos Kotzias also made a strongly-worded statement on the meeting, arguing the initiative was ran contrary to the European consultation and cooperation culture between all member states.

Athens also criticized Austria's decision last week to limit the number of asylum applicants and migrants crossings that created a domino effect in the Balkans.

Serbia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) further strengthened border controls during the weekend and as a result, thousands of refugees were left stranded in Greece.

On Tuesday, Greek police cleared the railway tracks near the Greece-FYROM border crossing of Idomeni where Afghan refugees who were denied entry into FYROM were staging a sit-in protest. Hundreds of refugees were transferred by bus back to Athens to be hosted in reception camps.

Greek officials also voiced disgruntlement on Tuesday over Turkey's stance in the management of refugee flows.

NATO's operational plan for the monitoring of the refugee influx in the Aegean Sea is not ready yet and Turkey is allegedly responsible for the delay because it retreated in relation with the NATO defense ministers' decision that envisaged the re-admission of refugees to Turkey by NATO forces, Greek government spokeswoman Olga Gerovassilis told a press briefing in Athens.

Greek defense minister Panos Kammenos, speaking to media, said that he has sent a formal letter to NATO's General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg requesting that the Alliance ensures the agreement on the deployment of NATO naval forces in the Aegean will be implemented to crack down on the smuggling rings that exploit the refugees.

The Greek minister accused Turkey of "trying to undermine the deal." Endit