Portugal can take 9,000 refugees to ease pressure on Greek camps

Portugal can accommodate another 5,000 refugees, in addition to the 4,000 already allocated by the European Union and can take 1,250 right away.

The guarantee was made by Portugal’s Prime Minister on a visit to a refugee camp in Greece.

António Costa also criticised the bureaucratic burdens of European legislation and wants to see the systems streamlined.

"We can provide over 5,000 places and we have 1,250 places immediately available."

The first European quota allocated to Portugal for the reception of refugees was little more than 4,000 people, but in the meantime the Portuguese government has already announced the availability to take in an additional 5,000.

"The overall number that Portugal can take already is more than 9,000 people," said Costa, speaking to journalists after a visit to the Eleonas refugee camp in central Athens, adding that he and Greek PM Alexis Tsipras are working on a way of speeding up the system.

"European legislation is often too bureaucratic to allow an agile response to people's needs. Therefore, throughout the day, we have worked with the Greek government to speed things up."

Costa also stressed that "the great mobilisation by Portuguese civil society" in welcoming the refugees, especially the Platform to Support Refugees, other NGOs, private charities, universities, polytechnics, vocational schools and businesses.

The two leaders signed a joint statement promising to cooperate in the migratory crisis affecting Europe. The document highlights the "huge challenge" facing the EU since last year and roundly condemns the construction of "walls" and "barriers."

The statement distributed to journalists after the meeting, criticised the consequences of austerity policies in the European Union.

In the document, Alexis Tsipras and António Costa consider that the austerity policies adopted have contributed to "depress economies and divided societies" in those Member States of the European Union which were subject to austerity.

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