The ceaseless exodus of refugees from Syria and other destitute people from the Middle East challenges international politics, religion, and civilization.

The Greeks have always been hospitable people. When they were worshipping the several gods of Homer, their greatest god, Zeus, was Zeus Xenios and Hikesios: Zeus the protector of foreigners. Greeks preserve this virtue from their ancient culture.

But in 2016 no matter how Christian Greeks feel about destitute Moslems landing to their shores, they know they cannot afford to maintain their hospitality. There are so many Moslem refugees already in Greece that they pose a potential existential threat to the country.

The presence of Moslem refugees in a few Aegean islands already wrecked their tourism

In 2016, Greece, inundated by refugees, is weak and poor. Since 2008, the European Union and its American partner, the International Monetary Fund, have been hammering Greece into destitution. The reason for the harsh punishment is to cough up money corrupt Greek politicians borrowed and misused.

The medicine for the debt is austerity, which does two things. First, it impoverishes the country, and, therefore, makes the repayment of the debt impossible. Second, it sows hatred for the European Union and Germany in particular that runs the EU.

So the EU-IMF is acting in Greece like a farm boss with a whip. But in the case of the refugees, the chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, is probably thinking ofSchengen without Greece, meaning the shutting down of the borders of FIROM and Bulgaria, leaving all refugees to Greece.

The Schengen Agreement dates from 1985. It creates a borderless Europe for the citizens of the EU. But the virtues of free movement within EU have been diluted by revisions of the Agreement to satisfy Germany and other north and western European countries. The losers are Greece, Italy and Spain that have to accept refugees and keep them. All that the EU’s agency for border control does is simply registering the refugees. That way if some of those refugees end up going to Germany, they will be sent back to Greece, Italy or Spain.

It’s these selfish reasons that Germany still keeps Greece in the Schengen Agreement. Bulgaria, for example, is not in the Schengen scheme, so it has no refugee problem. Bulgaria borders Turkey.

Meanwhile, the EU and US brought NATO into the murky refugee river flowing from the NATO ally, Turkey, into another NATO country, Greece. What is the purpose of a military alliance that protects Turkey in the perpetuation of aggression against Greece?

Strangely, the head of NATO, America, keeps itself out of the refugee quagmire. The US blasted the Middle East in 2003 and, indirectly, precipitated the Syrian civil war — with its river of human beings running away from bombs.

Turkey took advantage of this chaos by embracing Jihadist Islam even further while intensifying its war against the Kurds. Turkey also is directing all the refugees who reach Greece. Why is NATO keeping a blind eye towards Turkey and the EU is even paying Turkey billions to supposedly stem the flow of refugees? Is it because the NATO boss, America, has the cold war fixation of using Turkey against Russia?

The American factor explains why Germany acts against the interest of the EU. Merkel is simply implementing American policy. But Germany and the US should know that Turkey is manipulating them.

Turkey has a long experience of playing one Christian nation against the other. But the countries of the West, supposedly Christian and civilized, hated each other more than they hated Turkey. They always resorted to wars rather than expelling Turkey from Europe.

Turkey tortured Christian European countries for centuries. In early twentieth century, Turkey committed genocide against Armenians and Greeks.

The latest exhibition of Turkish shrewdness and bulling of the EU took place inBrussels, March 7, 2016. Turkey demanded the EU accelerate discussions for becoming a member of the EU and, in addition, give it another 3 billion euros for refugee costs. For every refugee from Turkey the EU takes in, Turkey promised to import a refugee already in the EU / Greece who is not acceptable for asylum.

Hungary rejected the Turkish demands but Merkel thought them worthy for consideration.

Nevertheless, while EU members continue bickering about Turkey and the endless refugees besieging Greece, they fail to talk about the result of their policies: using the asylum section of the Schengen Agreement for forcing Greece to become a refugee concentration camp. Such a prospect will probably make Greece a Moslem country with unforeseeable revolutionary and catastrophic consequences not merely for Greece but for all of Europe.

The alternative, of course, is to attack the problem at its roots. End the civil war in Syria and reform the asylum clause of the Schengen Agreement. Greece should not be responsible for keeping the asylum seekers, who should be returned home or to a safe haven. Throw Turkey out of NATO and guard the Greek borders as the borders of the EU.

Finally, the Greek people must find a way to repudiate and change their suicidal government with its open borders.