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Greece scrambles to implement migration deal

Migrants stand at a train station near the makeshift refugee camp at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Saturday, March 19, 2016. European Union and Turkish leaders celebrated a "historic day" after sealing a widely-criticized pact to send thousands of asylum-seekers back to Turkey — a deal that will cost millions and require the rapid dispatch of thousands of experts to Greece to undertake the complicated task of making the plan a reality. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) Migrants stand at a train station near the makeshift refugee camp at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Saturday, March 19, 2016. European Union and Turkish leaders celebrated a "historic day" after sealing a widely-criticized pact to send thousands of asylum-seekers back to Turkey — a deal that will cost millions and require the rapid dispatch of thousands of experts to Greece to undertake the complicated task of making the plan a reality. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

By Associated Press March 19, 2016 1 min read

ATHENS, Greece (AP) – Government officials in Greece have signaled that implementation of a migration agreement between the European Union and Turkey can only be implemented gradually, with key details still to be worked out on how migrants newly arriving from Turkey will be processed and returned.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was meeting Saturday with ministers and senior officials involved in the migration crisis, hours after the deal was reached in Brussels to send back migrants arriving on the Greek islands to Turkey, starting Sunday.

Yiannis Balafas, the deputy interior minister, said swift screening procedures in the Greek islands would require additional staff promised by the European Union.