Obama warns of risks from ´crude´ nationalism

ATHENS: US President Barack Obama on Tuesday warned against succumbing to "crude" nationalism in the aftermath of populist shocks in the Brexit referendum and the American vote, and with a wave of European elections looming.

"We are going to have to guard against a rise in a crude sort of nationalism or ethnic identity or tribalism that is built around an ´us´ and a ´them´," Obama said in Athens as he embarked on a farewell trip to Europe.

"We know what happens when Europeans start dividing themselves up...the 20th century was a bloodbath," Obama said, adding that the United States was also painfully aware of how "dangerous" it was to "(divide) ourselves along lines of race or religion or ethnicity."

Obama praises Greece´s ´extraordinary compassion´ for refugees

US President Barack Obama on Tuesday praised Greece for showing "extraordinary compassion" to hundreds of thousands of migrants, many of them fleeing war, in what has become an enormous challenge for the entire European Union.

"I want to thank Greek people for their humanitarian response" and their "extraordinary compassion," Obama said in Athens as he began a final foreign trip to Europe.

Over a million people passed through Greece last year, and the crisis-hit country has struggled to accommodate over 60,000 refugees left stranded on its territory when Balkan states farther north shuttered their borders earlier this year.

Even with EU funds and assistance, there is overcrowding in Greek camps and frequent brawls between rival ethnic groups.

Humanitarian agencies are now warning that conditions must urgently improve before cold weather sets in.