“Europe will either respond courageously or lose the allure it has for its citizens. There is a lot riding on how it deals with the coronavirus crisis. We have no right lose this wager. And when I say we, I mean our generation, our history and our people, who want more Europe,” commented Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis in his interview on Flash Radio Thessaloniki, regarding the impasse in the Eurogroup.
Talking to journalists S. Orailoglou and G. Strikos, Mr. Varvitsiotis emphasised that national walls cannot be raised against a supranational problem like COVID-19. “We can’t be together when things are calm and on our own when things get rough,” he said. He called on the European capitals to hear the cries of anguish from Italy and Spain.
Regarding the EU intervention at the Evros border, the Alternate Minister highlighted that this was perhaps the first time the Union showed such unanimity and solidarity, unprecedented on the European level. He added that the Greek government dealt effectively and resolutely with Turkey’s aggressive effort to exploit people who did not have a refugee profile, internationalising the problem and gaining maximum European support.
April 8, 2020