ATHENS, Greece — Lawmakers in Greece on Thursday approved construction of a state-funded mosque near central Athens – a proposal that triggered dissent within the coalition government amid a heated public debate on how to manage the migrant crisis.
The proposal, approved by 206-24 votes in parliament, follows several failed attempts to implement the project that had previously faced opposition from the country’s powerful Orthodox Church.
The governing left-wing Syriza party backed the $1 million project, but it was opposed by its nationalist coalition partner, the Independent Greeks.
Tens of thousands of Muslim migrants live in Greater Athens and use informal prayer rooms around the capital – many set up in basements and failed businesses in run-down neighborhoods.
Speaking at one prayer site, Syrian-born immigrant Ahmed Halez Hasan said he believed political opposition from previous governments had held up the venture for more than a decade.
“This issue has come up before many times, repeatedly, and then it stops. It stops because of the government. But I think this government will help,” said Hasan, who has lived in Greece for more than 30 years.
The number of Muslims in Greece has increased following the refugee crisis last year, when the country was on Europe’s busiest transit route for people fleeing to the continent.
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