JOURNALIST: Local communities are reacting strongly to the moving of refugees from the islands to the mainland. How will you deal with this situation?
M. VARVITSIOTIS: Our policy priority is the security of the country and our borders, and managing the situation effectively without violating rights. A key condition, however, is that migrants respect the customs, conditions and laws of our country, which is hosting them. The government has left behind the Syriza government’s open borders policy, which hurt the country so much. But we can’t let our islands shoulder the burden of migration flows on their own. There are national reasons for this – reasons that I think we all understand. This is why, just as we are asking all of the European countries to share the refugee burden fairly, we are asking all of the country’s regions to do the same, without surprises and in consultation and agreement with local communities.
JOURNALIST: The German Minister of the Interior, Horst Seehofer, says that, in the future, reception countries will carry out only the initial consideration of eligibility for asylum, and that applications for asylum could be considered in other EU countries, reducing the burden for countries like Greece and Italy. Do you think this might be passed in the EU, with a change in the Dublin Regulation? And if so, when do you see this happening?
M. VARVITSIOTIS: We have taken initiatives on the European level to speed up the reform of the common European asylum policy, based on solidarity and fair distribution of the burden. We think the mandatory redistribution of persons (applicants for asylum, persons eligible for international protection, persons to be returned) and fairer burden-sharing among member states is the only way to lighten the burden of countries of first reception. This comes in confirmation of our proposal for differentiating between refugees and migrants. In any event, we look positively on any political initiative for reducing the burden on countries like ours.
JOURNALIST: Despite its isolation, Turkey is continuing its provocations in the Cypriot EEZ and in the Aegean. Will the EU implement the sanctions passed at the last European Council meeting?
M. VARVITSIOTIS: We always highlight Turkey’s illegal conduct and, supporting Cyprus’s request, we secured the condemnation of these actions at the recent Summit Meeting. We are exerting pressure for the implementation of the decisions, so that we can make it clear that Turkey’s threats against Cyprus and the European Union must stop. There can be no tolerance for a country that systematically violates international law and uses the migration issue to blackmail not just Greece, but the whole of the European Union. In the face of these practices, Europe must show clear resolve.
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JOURNALIST: What do you think the chances are that we’ll see a no-deal Brexit on 1 February? Are we prepared for such an eventuality?
M. VARVITSIOTIS: Europe is losing from Great Britain’s withdrawal, and we should be concerned about this. It is losing the oldest parliamentary democracy, it is losing a major international financial centre, it is losing a country with strong geopolitical sway. But the Greek government has been prepared for some time now for every eventuality. We are prepared in terms of legislation even in the case of a no-deal Brexit. We have already submitted a relevant umbrella bill with 128 public administration provisions, entitled “Emergency regulations for the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union,” regarding which the public consultation was completed a few days ago. In any event, I support the view that Great Britain should be given time to decide on its withdrawal.
JOURNALIST: The decisions on the EU budget will be taken at the European Council meeting in December. What is our country trying to get in the budget? Can we secure the same funding we got four years ago?
M. VARVITSIOTIS: In the recent European Elections, citizens asked for more Europe. But you can’t have more Europe with a smaller budget. Our country, having lost 25% of its GDP, needs a development and investment infusion in the coming years – funding that can come from the two key tools of the Cohesion Policy and the CAP. We are trying to get more resources and special clauses for the member states that, like us, are facing economic problems. At the same time, we are asking the EU not to reduce the money it spends on Cohesion and the farmers. We are not alone in these negotiations. This week, in Prague, 17 EU member states agreed on a Joint Declaration, setting the bar for our expectations.
November 10, 2019