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Refugee crisis in Europe

Russian lawmaker says mass influx of refugees highly improbable in Russia

"Those refugees who have reached Sweden, Finland and Denmark, did it via the European Union countries and this flow was really big," Pushkov said

© Alexander Shcherbak/TASS

ATHENS, February 16. /TASS/. A mass influx of refugees is highly improbable in Russia as it is technically difficult to reach Russia, a Russian lawmaker said on Monday.

Refugee crisis in Europe

"I think Finnish President Sauli Niinisto (who said that Russia is to share Turkey’s lot in term of accepting an influx of refugees fleeing from wars) rather expresses the Scandinavian countries’ concerns over this scenario," he said, adding that such a scenario was highly improbable. "Suffice it to have a look at a map to see that no mass influx of refugees is likely in Russia just because it will be technically difficult for them to reach Russia’s territory."

"Those refugees who have reached Sweden, Finland and Denmark, did it via the European Union countries and this flow was really big," Pushkov said. "I believe the European Union countries should think how to solve this problem with the use of instruments the Union has and their internal agreements. In case of Russia, it can be dozens, maybe hundreds of people but not thousands, tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of people who have reached them via the European Union countries. And there can be and will be no other flow."

Over his stay in Athens, Pushkov met with Greek Minister of National Defense Panagiotis Kammenos, speaker of the Greek parliament Nikos Voutsis and chairman of Greek parliament’s international committee Konstantinos Douzinas. The agenda of the talks includes a wide range of issue, including the situation in Syria and the Ukrainian crisis.

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Foreign policy Refugee crisis

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