Greece passed a law in 2006 to build a mosque with public money but the project has been blighted by legal complications.
With no official place to worship, a number of underground mosques have been set up in people’s basements sparking concerns Muslims will be radicalised.
A government official at the Education and Religious Affairs Ministry who wished to remain anonymous told Greek newspaper Kathimerini: “Every day that we do not have an official mosque and imam in Athens, we pay for in the increased risk of the radicalisation of Muslims in the dark and unofficial places of worship.
Greek officials fear Muslims will be radicalised in unofficial mosques
The mosque in Athens will be built with public money
The state has to have an official interlocutor who represents the various branches of Islam. When you do not have official places of worship, who can you speak with?”
The government also has the right to appoint an imam for the mosque when construction is complete at the site in Votanikos near the centre of the Greek capital.
Riot police surround migrants protesting deportation from Greece
Dozens of basements have been converted into makeshift mosques by Muslim migrants arriving in Greece.
It’s unclear just how many Muslims live in Athens but before the migrant crisis the Muslim population was thought to be between 200,000 and 300,000. The country has found itself at the centre of the migrant crisis as thousands of people arrive at the border ready to make their journeys further into Europe.
Greece has struggled to cope as the European Union-Turkey treaty takes hold and authorities have warned plans to return migrants to Turkey are under threat as there are not enough officials to carry out the deportations.
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