ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece’ s migration minister on Monday called criticism from human rights groups a “badge of honor” and vowed to further toughen migration policies he called “the toughest — if not the toughest — in Europe.”
Thanos Plevris' comments to private broadcaster Action 24 came as Greece’s conservative government, facing a rise in migrant arrivals crossing the Mediterranean from eastern Libya, pursues closer cooperation with authorities in the divided North African country and backs tougher migration measures across the European Union.
“Let me tell you something: the days when bureaucrats from Brussels or the United Nations could just show up and dictate how Greece handles the migration crisis are over,” Plevris declared.
Greece, along with some other EU member states, is in talks with African countries about establishing centers in those countries for migrants whose asylum claims have been rejected in Europe, a proposal that has drawn criticism from international rights groups.
Plevris argued that rights groups and charities assisting migrants had no role in shaping Greek migration policy.
“Every time U.N. envoys express concern over my legislation, it makes me proud of that legislation,” he said. “The more Amnesty International, the U.N. high commissioner for refugees or U.N. envoys are irritated by our migration policy, the more I view it as a badge of honor.”
Saddam Hifter, deputy commander of eastern Libya’s armed forces, was in Athens on Monday for meetings with Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
Greece is offering eastern Libya’s authorities coast guard training, as well as support for employment programs and investment initiatives, in an effort to strengthen cooperation and curb migrant departures across the Mediterranean.
The EU last week approved tougher migration measures despite a decline in migrant crossings from North Africa and the Middle East.
Greece, however, has recorded a surge in arrivals on the island of Crete from eastern Libya. Arrivals and interceptions off Crete rose more than 20% to 5,500 through May compared with the same period last year, according to data issued by Greek authorities Monday, with the pace increasing since early June.
Libya has become a major transit hub for migrants from Africa and the Middle East seeking to reach Europe. Human trafficking networks have flourished in Libya during more than a decade of instability, smuggling migrants through borders with six neighbors: Chad, Niger, Sudan, Egypt, Algeria and Tunisia.
Jalel Harchaoui, an analyst specializing in Libyan politics and security, said eastern Libya is seeking closer diplomatic ties with European countries and financial assistance.
Khaled reported from Cairo.
Deputy Commander of the Libyan National Army, Lieutenant General Saddam Haftar looks on before his meeting with the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, in Athens, on Monday, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Deputy Commander of the Libyan National Army, Lieutenant General Saddam Haftar right, shakes hands with Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, in Athens, on Monday, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
FILE - Greece's Migration Minister Thanos Plevris attends a swearing in ceremony at the Presidential palace, in Athens, on Monday, June 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — Stock markets rallied worldwide Monday, and oil prices eased after the United States and Iran reached a tentative deal to extend their ceasefire and reopen the Strait of Hormuz to get the global flow of crude going again.
The S&P 500 rose 1.7% on hopes that this time, the announcement of an Iran-U.S. agreement will mean a long-term fix to a conflict that has worsened inflation around the world. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 468 points, or 0.9%, to a record, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 3.1%.
Stocks got a lift after the price for a barrel of Brent crude oil fell 4.8% to $83.17, back to where it was in early March. While that’s still above its price of roughly $70 from before the war, it’s lower than the $100 plus it cost just a few weeks ago. The hope is that lower oil prices will take pressure off households and businesses, which have had to pay higher prices for everything from food to fuel to fertilizer because of the war with Iran.
Iran confirmed the deal, but it does not include a final agreement on issues like Iran’s nuclear program. Negotiations on that are expected to continue over the next 60 days, which leaves opportunity for hiccups that could derail the agreement. And even if the Strait of Hormuz does fully reopen on Friday as expected, it will likely take months for the energy industry to get back to full speed.
For now, though, relief swept through financial markets worldwide.
On Wall Street, stocks of companies with big fuel bills were instant winners. United Airlines flew 3.9% higher, and cruise operator Royal Caribbean Group rose 6.6%.
Stocks of companies enmeshed in the artificial-intelligence industry also jumped. These stocks have yo-yoed in recent weeks, going from roaring to records to suddenly turning lower. The concern is whether such stocks shot too high, too fast because of AI mania, and their careening moves have sometimes reversed direction by the hour.
Micron Technology rallied 10.8%, and Advanced Micro Devices rose 7%. Nvidia’s climb of 3.5% was the strongest force pushing the S&P 500 upward because the AI chip company is Wall Street’s most valuable company, giving it more weight on the index than any other.
SpaceX, Elon Musk’s rocket company that also owns the AI company xAI, rose 19.6% in its second day of trading on Wall Street. Its successful debut on the Nasdaq suggested plenty of demand still exists among investors for AI. The market has given SpaceX a total value of more than $2.1 trillion, making it bigger than Exxon Mobil, Bank of America and Coca-Cola combined.
In the bond market, Treasury yields eased on hopes that lower oil prices will remove pressure on central banks to raise interest rates.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury slipped to 4.47% from 4.48% late Friday.
Europe’s central bank last week became the first major one in the world to raise interest rates because of the war with Iran. High interest rates can keep a lid on inflation, but they also slow economies and undercut prices for all kinds of investments, including stocks and cryptocurrencies. They hit investments seen as the most expensive in particular, and some critics are calling the AI industry a bubble where investment inflated too far.
The Fed will announce its latest decision on interest rates later this week, which will be the first under its new chair, Kevin Warsh. Traders see it as a near certainty that the Fed will leave its main interest rate steady after its two-day meeting ends Wednesday.
Traders had been raising bets that the Fed may have to raise interest rates this year because of how much inflation has accelerated and how solid the U.S. job market remains. But the tentative deal between the United States and Iran means traders are now betting on only a 57% chance of a hike this year, down from 71% a week ago, according to data from CME Group.
Elsewhere on Wall Street, Roku fell 1.9% after the company announced that Fox Corp. is buying the streaming pioneer in a cash-and-stock deal valued at approximately $22 billion.
Roku’s stock had already soared 20% Friday, when media reports emerged about a deal, which will give Fox access to the Roku channel, first-party data and more than 100 million global streaming households. Fox’s stock fell 16.8%.
All told, the S&P 500 rose 122.83 points to 7,554.29. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 468.77 to 51,671.03, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 795.10 to 26,683.94.
In stock markets abroad, indexes climbed in Asia and Europe. Japan’s Nikkei 225 leaped 5% for one of the world’s biggest gains and finished at a record.
“This is great news,” said Takashi Hiroki, chief strategist at Monex. “Buying by foreign investors is leading the market with expectations of easing tensions around the situation in the Middle East.”
South Korea’s Kospi soared even more, 5.2%, thanks in part to continued rallies for AI winners like Samsung Electronics.
London’s FTSE 100 was an outlier and slipped 0.4%.
AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach and Senior Producer Mayuko Ono contributed to this report.
Options trader, and New York Knicks fan Ousama Fayek works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Options trader, and New York Knicks fan Ousama Fayek works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Trader Daniel Kryger, left, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Trader Patrick Casey works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, June 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Specialist Gregg Maloney works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, June 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Currency traders watch monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, June 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
A dealer walks past a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, June 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
