JOURNALIST: An increase has been seen in arrivals of refugees on Greek islands. How does the government plan to deal with this increase?
M. VARVITSIOTIS: Since last July, new arrivals of refugees and migrants have increased by 200%. Turkey is not cooperating enough on checking the flows. This is why we passed a new law that accelerates the asylum procedure and went into effect on 1 January. At the same time, we are restructuring our forces to make it clear that Greece is guarding its borders, and we are trying to increase the number of returns to Turkey.
JOURNALIST: Is it true that 30 people are returned to Turkey every day?
M. VARVITSIOTIS: Yes, but the number of arrivals is five times that, and sometimes ten times that.
JOURNALIST: How are you ensuring the fair consideration of these applications for asylum?
M. VARVITSIOTIS: Consideration of the application is one thing, and opening our borders to this wave of migrants is another. What is being limited is the manner in which migrants can appeal a rejection, not the legality of the procedure.
JOURNALIST: One of your ideas is to construct a barrier at sea ...
M. VARVITSIOTIS: It’s not an idea. It is one of the systems we want to test so we can see whether it discourages new flows.
JOURNALIST: Was it taken into account that the barrier may cause new deaths?
M. VARVITSIOTIS: How can that be said when the measure has not even been implemented?
JOURNALIST: The centres on the islands are functioning well beyond capacity: Moria has a capacity of 3,000, and it is hosting 20,000 migrants. Is there any plan for dealing with this?
M. VARVITSIOTIS: They can’t leave the islands while their asylum applications are being examined. We don’t want to send the message that everyone who gets to Greece immediately leaves the camps. What’s more, the residents of the islands can’t take much more of this. We intend to build closed centres for those whose asylum applications are rejected.
JOURNALIST: Will the closed centres be used only for those whose applications have been rejected?
M. VARVITSIOTIS: Yes.
JOURNALIST: And what about the people in other centres?
M. VARVITSIOTIS: This will take time. The new system went into effect at the beginning of January. Many of them were also isolated in the old system. Look: In Greece, we are trying to follow all of the rules on how to handle migrants and applicants for asylum. But we can’t convert the Greek islands into a European Ellis Island.
JOURNALIST: How do you see the changes in Turkish foreign policy?
M. VARVITSIOTIS: What Turkey is doing is blackmailing the EU, either for more money or to use the money as it sees fit. For instance, returning persons to Syria in order to alter the demographic make-up of certain regions – or threatening to flood Europe with refugees. This is clearly blackmail, and it isn’t directed at Athens. It is directed at Brussels. We should not allow this kind of blackmail. It is absurd for the EU – the most advanced democracy, with a population of 300 million – to fear 100,000 refugees crossing its borders. We should have a mechanism that protects us – a system that bears in mind both the security of our citizens and the Union’s humanitarian values. At this point, I would like to thank Portugal for supporting Greece, participating in the refugee relocation programme, sending coastguard personnel to our islands and contributing constructively to the dialogue that is constantly being blocked by the Visegrad countries, who argue that this is not a European problem, but a problem for the countries on Europe’s external borders. The people who arrive on Lesvos don’t want to stay there. They want to go to Frankfurt, Stockholm, Amsterdam. The EU is what attracts them.
JOURNALIST: On the same topic: Recently, there was a European conference on Libya, in which Greece did not participate. There is the matter of the oil in the Mediterranean. How is Greece dealing with all of this?
M. VARVITSIOTIS: Turkey is engaging in ongoing provocation of Greece. This is a major challenge for us, because we want to defend our national space without militarising the crisis. We don’t want this to move past diplomacy and become an operational crisis.
JOURNALIST: The Greek Prime Minister is attempting to draw attention to this issue. In fact, he carried out a tour of the Middle East. Is he finding that ears are more sympathetic there than in the EU?
M. VARVITSIOTIS: I think the EU hasn’t yet realised that Turkey has changed. There are still countries that believe Turkey may still adopt our values. But the distance is increasing rapidly. I think that, very soon, we will see a discussion of the future of Turkey’s relationship with Europe.
JOURNALIST: In terms of indicators, the economic situation in Greece has improved. When will improved indicators translate into an improvement in people’s lives?
M. VARVITSIOTIS: The wounds from the crisis are deep and difficult to heal. The crisis lasted longer than it should have, for two reasons: First, the toxic populist political rhetoric, and second, the mix of measures that were implemented, which proved to be wrong. Greece is returning to the markets and, for the first time, is borrowing at negative interest. And at the same time it is issuing bonds at 1.6% interest. All of this will have a positive effect on households, but it will take time.
JOURNALIST: You set ambitious goals for eliminating the use of lignite in the context of the Green Deal. How do you plan to achieve this?
M. VARVITSIOTIS: We really have set the bar high. The Prime Minister has shown special interest in the green economy, and we believe Greece is in a position to achieve a rapid energy transition. Our goal is to stop using lignite in our energy sector by 2028. Greece is often cited as a bad example. Through our new policies, we want to become a model for emulation.
February 16, 2020