N. XYDAKIS: Good afternoon. It is a difficult day; it’s a Saturday. Thank you for coming on a Saturday, to listen to a few, albeit substantive, words we have to say. Thank you to my colleagues, Ministers of European Affairs and Foreign and European Affairs from six different countries.
This is a different meeting, a different working session of a great value, as will be proven in the future, I believe. It’s about cooperation.
As we hoped, this meeting went better than expected. It’s about solidarity, with deeds, in practice. We showed what it means to exert policy in the field where things happen, where the problem is, and where and when we are seeking solutions.
The Foreign Minister of the Netherlands and President of the Council of the European Union, Bert Koenders, had announced – well, he had said actually that the devil hides in the details, as we all know. Well, they all came here, my colleagues came here, to touch upon the problem, find and deal with the devil in the details. They touched history in the making, as we say.
So this is an informal visit, but it is one of the most substantive ones, on a European level, in the Eastern Mediterranean since the beginning of the outbreak of the refugee crisis. It is a political visit, opening ceremony. We have the political coverage by elected politicians, and at the same time we bring together increased know-how and expertise and a very focused political will.
We keep learning how to work together; we keep learning political lessons, in vivo, not in vitro; it’s about practice, and not in theory. Think-tanks are good, but here we are talking about practice. People meet other people; they have to ask tough questions, they deliver tough answers sometimes.
So since last night until this very moment this is what we have been doing: tough questions, tough answers, openness, frankness, knowledge, awareness and learning. Will, political will, and learning.
I would attempt to draw two conclusions, two main conclusions, from this short but very important meeting.
First, this is about a very ambitious, radical, difficult plan. It’s the Joint Action Plan between the European Union and Turkey. History, necessity and practical needs mean that we all have to take ourselves closer to more political unity, the forms of cooperation and unity that we have kept discussing in Brussels in the various meeting rooms, but are not moving forward.
Now, here, in practice, we have to implement a common asylum policy, in practice, without even having introduced the relevant institutions. So we have started working in practice, in accordance with European values, in accordance with the European acquis, in accordance with international law on refugees.
As I said, it’s about practice and effectiveness. This is the first lesson we learnt. It was my pleasure to realise that we are on the same page with my colleagues and ministers. We will address the problem together.
The other political lesson we have learnt from this very ambitious project is that once again we are faced with a political problem, a new political problem, and we have to think outside the box in order to find a method of constructive coexistence and partnership among member states in the supranational EU.
And how we will also coexist with civil society, NGOs. And this is another, different challenge posed by history.
We are sensitive to the matter; we are aware, and we are ready to deal with the challenge, to think about it and start providing solutions. There’s not just one single solution. There is no panacea, but we are ready, as I said. We are fully informed. There is no excuse.
And now this brings us to the details and the devil hiding in them. History, as I said, faces us with the problem. We have to find solutions.
At this moment we all realise that in the face of this huge geopolitical destabilization issue in the Eastern Mediterranean the Middle East, we Europeans must stand united together, must think together, must change attitudes together, go beyond the stereotypes and form into something different with more mutual understanding.
I think I talked too long. Let me now give the floor to my colleague, Bert Koenders, who, with Harlem Desir, took the initiative to get together, that we all embraced, of course, and Ms. Margarida Marques, from Portugal, European Affairs Minister of Portugal. Some weeks ago they welcomed us very warmly in Lisbon. Miroslav Lajcak is the Foreign Minister of Slovakia, the forthcoming presidency. He started assuming responsibilities from Bert Koenders. Bert Koenders is the Foreign Minister of the Netherlands, as I said earlier, and the person who took this initiative. I think he has learnt more than we have all learnt. And Harlem Desir – he is here for the fifth time. We know each other from the remote past. We are working together – another good learner, excellent learner. And Sandro Gozi is someone who has been here several times. He knows Greek affairs very well and is a precious, valuable, steady, solid partner of Greece.
B. KOENDERS: Nikos, I am very glad to be here, and we are actually here with seven ministers of foreign and European affairs, six coming from outside of Greece, one from Greece. But it shows that this is a common challenge that we are faced with, and therefore we are sitting in a working session yesterday and tomorrow to face the common challenges of this migration crisis.
I would like to say first of all that we have been welcomed yesterday very warmly and hospitably by President Pavlopoulos and Prime Minister Tsipras, and I would like to thank specifically Minister Xydakis and the other colleagues we saw this morning for very good, very informative sessions on how we can together support each other in this challenge of migration and asylum.
First of all, I’d like to say on behalf of also my colleagues: Greece plays a key role in resolving the migration crisis, given that a substantial proportion of the refugees and economic migrants arrive here first. That is, your geographical location.
With large numbers of people who came ashore day by day and the Greek population, showing great hospitality, is facing a daunting challenge. And I’d like to express our great appreciation for not only the Greek authorities but also the Greek people, the Greek Police and asylum organisations.
Fortunately, they are not facing this crisis on their own. The European Union stands ready to lend a hand whenever necessary. This is not a problem that the Greeks should deal with on their own. It’s a common European issue. We need not only to show solidarity in words, but also in practice, and that is what we discussed today.
We have to address the issue together. It’s not just about the borders of Greece, but also about the borders of Europe as a whole.
This is why the European Union has sprung also into action, to lend assistance in as many locations as possible. As the current holder of the European Union presidency, we are helping to facilitate and encourage these efforts, including deployment issues, ensuring acceptance and implementation of international law and standards, and so on and so forth.
I know that many countries are working with Greece to make this happen. It’s a very complex arrangement. From my own country a large border security team has been stationed on Lesbos and Chios to help register and identify refugees. We also contribute to EASO with many experts, and we contribute with humanitarian aid. But it is all of us, all European countries that have to show their solidarity, and we do. And we are looking today and yesterday to the details of this, to make sure that the experts and the supporters, all kind of issues related to humanitarian affairs, are complied with, as we have agreed at a European level, obviously within the context of the national Greek sovereignty.
Greece is in need of many experts, interpreters, legal advisors, I think it is very important for us, having listened and having looked and having visited this afternoon also some of the centers, that we know exactly what is needed and how we can accelerate this. We also need to keep a close eye on developments on the Turkish side. We will visit, at least some of us, also Turkey this afternoon.
I am here with my colleagues in Greece to see for ourselves how the country is doing and how refugees are being accommodated, processed and in some cases returned. We have listened very carefully to the Greek concerns and we are all well aware of the enormous task and challenges the Greek authorities are facing. Over the past two months, we have seen many heartrending images of people in desperate straits; people that have risked their lives to cross the Mediterranean, people being exploited by smugglers in the hope for a better life and people trying to break through fences to reach the European Union. I don’t think we ever want to see these kinds of images again. This is not acceptable for any European values or conventions. We want a solution that will ensure that people fleeing war and violence are treated with dignity and respect. And that is the reason behind the agreement between the European Union and Turkey, and I believe we found the right formula to tackle human smuggling, stop people from risking their lives to come to Europe, and create a lawful migration route for the Syrians. I think that’s important. It’s a combination of these three aspects we together are working in.
This week, several hundred irregular migrants were sent back from Greece to Turkey, and for the first time, Syrians have been transferred to European countries from Turkey. This is a credible start in our view, to implementing this agreement. In my own country we received already 34 Syrian refugees from Turkey this week, mainly families, so did Finland and Germany, and I know also relocation from Greece and resettlement from Turkey both are absolutely crucial elements of this deal. The first days have been behind us. I think that it is a positive development. It was and is a difficult deal. Let us hope this trend continues. We owe it to ourselves to treat refugees and migrants with basic human decency. That’s exactly what we are doing. People who file for asylum in Greece will be assessed individually and carefully and in conformity with international standards.
I would like to raise two specific points that called our attention today. First, the situation of unaccompanied minors among refugees. I think it requires the highest attention of us all and our immediate action. Second, and I think Minister Xydakis was referring that, we also spoke with international organizations and with non-governmental organizations, who shared with us also their findings. And I think it is important that all of us, international organizations, the Greek state and civil society, with support also from the international community, jointly work together to overcome the current challenges.
At the same time, I am aware of the fact that this agreement is not a solution for the broader, global migration problem. A lot of people still have a lot of reasons to migrate to Europe, but this deal is an important and crucial component to start managing this. Therefore, it is crucial that we also eliminate the fundamental causes of migration. We need to take away some of the triggers for displacement. This is why we must commit ourselves as Europeans to resolving the biggest and most pressing conflicts, like those in Mali and Syria, and preventing future conflicts, so that people have better prospects for the future, for themselves and for their families.
Failed states, such as Libya, need our help to get back on their feet, so criminal organizations and human traffickers no longer have free reign. We also need to give people economic prospects and defend their basic rights, so they can make something of their lives.
I would like again to thank you very much on behalf of our delegation. Of course, we are all willing to engage in any questions and answers. Thank you very much.
JOURNALIST: A question to the Dutch Foreign Minister, Mr. Koenders. I would like to ask you, are you satisfied, as the rotating presidency, with the implementation of the relocation project? Because you mentioned also resettlement from Turkey to the Netherlands directly, but what about resettlement from Turkey to other European countries? And what is the message that you are going to send to Turkey during your visit to Turkey, starting later today? And one last question concerning the referendum in your country. Do you believe that maybe there are repercussions, I mean in the Netherlands, concerning the future of the European Union at this critical junction, especially in view of the refugee and migrant crisis? Thank you.
B. KOENDERS: Thank you very much. First of all, I would like to say that on the issue of relocation and resettlement, I think some of my colleagues want to also take the floor, because I know that many countries are engaged now in the programs of European solidarity and ensuring that this system is going to work. I see it as the role of this delegation as a whole, including the presidency when we go back, to ensure that there are sufficient commitments from all countries to make resettlement and relocation work. The only way we can kill the business model of the smugglers is to create the legal route, as agreed upon by the European leaders, as to a one-to-one replacement figure, but it means solidarity in many other areas as well.
The second question related to whether we are satisfied with these aspects, I would say yes. The beginning is excellent, in the sense that immediately, as the movement between Greece and Turkey started, there have been flights organized to different countries, including also others like Germany and Finland, to resettle the asylum seekers that were in Turkey on the basis of the one-to-one formula.
As to the referendum in my own country, we are going to assess from our side, as the Dutch government, the outcome of this. This is a new democratic instrument we have in the Netherlands, more than the 30% required in the Dutch electorate voted, also many people who didn’t vote, it was a threshold of around 30% to 32% of the people voted. They voted in majority against the association agreement with Ukraine. We have certain concerns, which we are identifying at the moment and we will discuss with our European colleagues obviously and with Ukraine, how we can take the next steps in this. I just want to ensure also from my side that this is in no way a lack of appreciation of solidarity with the Ukrainian people, but we will have to reflect with our European colleagues on how we can come to a sensible solution to this. Thank you.
JOURNALIST: Sir, there was an article last week on the CNN network, because you talked about Libya, that there are thousands of jihadists in the Middle East and North Africa, waiting to pass to Europe, and that already 400 of them have passed through some networks.
Do you think that Europe is doing enough for European security? Everybody agrees that we need to treat refugees with a humanist policy, but is there also a security aspect of this policy, so that we protect Europe, especially after the terrorist attacks in Brussels and Paris?
B. KOENDERS: Let me first of all say that I do not want to dominate this press conference and I am sure my colleagues would like to say something about it as well. But let me just say from my side – yes, but I mean I know that we are all ministers and we all have the right to speak. And he’s the next president, so he’s…
Let me just say very quickly on this: First of all, I think it’s very important to underline that not only for the Dutch presidency but I think for all ministers, if they are for the interior, for European affairs, or for foreign affairs, having this issue as a priority in all our dealings in Europe. And we have prioritized this also, as a European presidency.
You are completely correct in saying let’s not confuse the refugee issue with the terrorism issue. These people are, in large majorities, overwhelming majorities, fleeing exactly the terror we are talking about.
Secondly, it is important to note that – and I think therefore this agreement that we have at the moment between the European Union and Turkey – but more generally to ensure that screening taking place at the external borders of Europe is an absolute priority. In that sense, it’s also part of this discussion, the support to Greece but also to other countries. The new proposals as a new migration policy in Europe all reflect the need to have free internal borders but combined with external screening of people.
Secondly, I would like to mention that the ministers of the interior and justice prioritise the need for very, very concrete cooperation within Europe of the intelligence services, law enforcement services, and border controls.
Thirdly, most of the countries are also involved in cooperation with third countries, in two elements, as to limiting this issue:
First is on the repressive side. That means sharing of intelligence to ensure that we know who is who. And I am sure my colleagues from France and other countries are very much involved in this and they can speak much better about it. But this is a priority.
And second, also to work on the prevention side. As Foreign Minister, I say that our priority is definitely now, with the Italians and with others, on the situation in Libya, beginning positive signs as to a new government of national unity. But it’s the very, very beginning, and we have to reinforce that, assist the reinforcement of that. We have to be proactive, as Europeans, to make sure that if a new flow would arise from that area we are not only in the reactive mode, but in terms of the mandates that we are discussing and on possible support for a new Libyan administration – that we are on the ball, so to speak.
So I think you are quite correctly pointing out the issue of security is key. The first role of any government – national but also at the European level – is to protect the states, the citizens against terrorist attacks.
D. MANOLIS (Athens News Agency): A question to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovakia. This is your second visit here in three days. What does it mean, concerning the level of relations between the two countries? Is there an improvement of bilateral relations? And also in view of your forthcoming presidency, during the second semester of 2016, the migration and refugee issues are on the top of your agenda? Thank you.
MR. M. LAJCAK: Yes, indeed. This is my second visit to Greece in the course of this week. I was here earlier to pay a bilateral visit. This was my very first visit after the appointment of the new government, and after my reappointment as the Foreign Minister of Slovakia, and I wanted to come to Greece for particular symbolic and practical reasons, to stress the importance of our bilateral relations, to assure my Greek partners about the friendship and about the fact that Slovakia cares a lot about the good cooperation that we traditionally have had. And I was very pleased with the reception and with the reaction of my Greek counterparts to this visit.
Now I am here as a part of this important group. This is a visit of solidarity, and at the same time it is a fact-finding mission focusing on the issue of migration. It’s particularly important for me representing the future presidency of the European Union. Yes, I can assure you that the migration issue will be at the top of our agenda, at the top of our attention, and we will do our utmost to continue the effort of the European Union to address the migration crisis.
Your country is the most heavily affected by the migration crisis, which does not mean that it’s your country’s problem. It’s our common European problem that can be solved only through a common European effort, and we will spare no time, no energy, to succeed in this effort. And from this perspective, I really found our visit and the meeting we have had up until now extremely useful. We have learned a lot, and it helped us to understand where we stand exactly, as of today, in implementing the deal between the European Union and Turkey.
And it’s been also very important for me, because it will help us to fine-tune the preparations for our presidency and addressing this particular issue.
M. KOURBELA: First of all, let me stress that this is the first time such solidarity is expressed in practice, in such a great team. Congratulations. I hope this continues.
A question for Mr. Desir. Are you optimistic that France will participate in the resettlement project? It is European Union law, but I see many countries hesitating, being very reluctant to implement resettlement.
H. DESIR: Thank you. First, I am very happy to be here with my colleagues, and I want to underline the fact that it’s an exceptional initiative, because we are facing an exceptional crisis, which requires an exception mobilization of European Union member states.
This is not just a Greek crisis. Greece is facing an international situation which is linked with the war in Syria and to instability and poverty in other places of the world. And the people who came to Greece came here because they want to go to Europe.
Now we have established an agreement with Turkey. We have established also an agreement on solidarity among member states, to support Greece, to help to face the humanitarian situation, to open a legal way of welcoming refugees, instead of human trafficking, to stop the deaths of people in the sea because of the abuse of human smugglers. And we have to implement this plan.
So what was very clear from the meetings we had with our colleagues, with the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister, Mr. Tsipras, but also with Mr. Yannis Mouzalas and the European agencies, the UNHCR, the NGO that we met also this morning, is that we have to increase and to speed up the implementation of this plan from the side of the European member states.
There have also been commitments which have been made to support implementation, and now every EU member state – and we will report to our colleagues when back to Brussels and to our capital – as to fulfil its commitment. It is very clear for the personnel which have to be sent from the European agency FRONTEX to EASO for the asylum seekers. It is clear also that we have to ensure that all the means will be provided to NGOs and to the Greek authorities for the humanitarian part of the plan, for the people who are in need here, and also that we have to fulfill our commitments regarding relocation; because you are right to say that this is an important part of what we have decided.
The people who arrived in Greece before the time of the implementation of the plan with Turkey, before the 20th of March, who are blocked now in the country, those who can apply for asylum right, who are in need of international protection, we have decided that they will be welcome in all EU member states. So we ask and we demand all EU member states to be prepared to welcome those people, we have begun to do it, we have shown that it is possible to do it with the needed security scrutiny. Of course, there is a need to be sure that no criminals, no terrorists will use this welcome program of refugees, but we have put in place the mechanism to ensure that, and now we ask all the member states to welcome the refugees.
On the other side, we have also decided that people in Turkey in cooperation with the UN who are refugees can come to Europe through a resettlement program, and France will take its part to this resettlement program. In the coming days and weeks, you will see that 200 people will be welcomed from Turkey directly. This is very important. Some people have already been welcomed to Germany, because we want to put in place a mechanism where if you want to go to Europe, you have to apply through a legal mechanism and not to try to go at the risk of your life, by going in a boat, which has been put in the sea by the smugglers, who are criminals.
So, in the relocation system I think that France now is one of the leading countries for welcoming people from Greece and from Italy too. In the resettlement mechanism from Turkey we will also fulfill our commitment and we think that this is very important to show that Europe, at the same time that it controls its borders, respects its values, respects the asylum rights and the Geneva Convention and organizes itself to do it in such conditions that the smuggling will stop and that the people will come to Europe in safe conditions. Thank you.
G. ALEXAKIS(“reporter.gr”): From reporter.gr. A question to the Portuguese Minister. What is the contribution of your country to the resettlement program and to what extent do you work with the Greek government in the context of the relocation program? And one question to the Italian Minister. What is the plan of Italy to handle, to address migrant flows in case there is a problem in Libya? And what about the deployment of security forces in Albania? Was that the result of cooperation with the Greek government or not? And does this tally with the good climate we need in Europe for the purpose of managing the problem?
M. MARQUES: Thank you very much for your question. First of all, I would like to underline that concerning when the questions about my colleague who was here before yesterday and he is now today with us, my Prime Minister will arrive tomorrow in Greece for a bilateral meeting. Don’t jump to conclusions as to why Portugal is here again. We are here because we think this is a European mission and because it is a European problem, and we need to have a European answer.
That is why we are here. The presidency deemed that it was important to be together discussing and having the opportunity to see on the ground what is happening and discussing and listening to all organizations, NGOs, who are together with our program. So this is a very important issue and we decided to do both; come to Greece and come to Turkey. And afterwards we will discuss, we will do the assessment of our conclusions to discuss how to go on with this mission.
To answer directly to your question, Portugal is very engaged in this issue and at the beginning of February, the Portuguese Prime Minister sent a letter to Greece, Italy, Austria, Sweden and Germany, to offer, to make an offer to receive more refugees. And our proposal is to receive 5,000 more than the quota in the beginning. So we can receive 10,000 refugees in our country in the relocation programme. So this is our offer and my country is very open to receiving refugees, because of solidarity, but also we have extensive experience with refugees in the 70s or the 80s. We know that the situation is different, but we have this experience and at the end of the day we think that it is a European issue and we need to have a European answer. And also, it is a very important challenge for Europe nowadays.
S. GOZI: Thank you. First of all, let me say that I am very satisfied with and grateful for this initiative that the Dutch Presidency and the Greek government took, because we know the feeling, in Italy. We know the feeling when you are a common border, you are a European border, a maritime border; it is clear that either you go ahead with a strong European action and with a concrete sense of European solidarity, or you cannot manage the issue. So it is very important, I do believe, that we are here, that we met with your government, that we met with the NGOs, that we met with international and European organizations, because this is teamwork for a package deal, which encompasses several aspects, and they must all work. Identification, reception, relocation, resettlement, return; they must all work.
From the Italian perspective we were very clear in the last Summit and in the conclusions we find satisfactory wordings. What we are doing today with Greece. And I should say, what we are doing today with the European Union, in this part of Europe. We are supposed a committee to do for the European Union in another part of Europe, i.e., in the Mediterranean. So we expect the same kind of solidarity and the same kind of commitment from the European Union partners and countries in the Mediterranean, in case there was another apex of the crisis, of a very, very huge increase of flows. We do not have any specific elements of alarm at the moment, for the time being, but this is how we prepare ourselves. We have settled in Greece the reception capacity in Italy, we have sped up the asylum procedure, we have sped up also the implementation of the hotspots, so we are doing our part and we do believe that this is the best way.
We are working on the prevention side also with our Albanian friends. We haven’t seen any specific increase of the flows through Albania, but we do believe that it is very important to strengthen our cooperation between the Italian government and the Albanian government. We have already provided resources for monitoring the borders to our Albanian partners and we are working very closely. Myself, I went to Tirana a few weeks ago. The two ministers, Albanian and Italian, are closely cooperating, not to find ourselves once again taken by surprise, when we know that there is the possibility of new flows and we are ready to work a lot on the prevention side.
Italy is also sending 20 asylum experts who are about to start to work here in Greece, exactly to strengthen the capacity in the asylum process, because it is clear that the numbers are huge for one singe country, so one of the most important things that we provide is experts, and there are 20 experts of Italy who are starting and Italy has already been present in the sea, on the border between the EU and Turkey. We have, with one helicopter and two vessels, rescued the lives of 1,354 people, and we have rescued 64 naval, if you want to say both, units, and certainly we are ready to do our part for the full implementation of this agreement.
JOURNALIST: I have two questions. One for all the ministers and one to Minister Xydakis.
How do you explain a certain delay of the European officers to come to Greece to help for the treatment of the asylum demands? And to Mr. Xydakis, if we have any new numbers of these arrivals. And the second question, when you think is the next dispatch of migrants to Turkey. Thank you.
N. XYDAKIS: The delay of sending officers, yes, of officials, yes, indeed there is one, but it doesn’t change our plans. It was expected, because we were overambitious I think. This is a giant operation, with little or no preparation. We all knew that some delays would be incurred for the purpose of the operation. This operation is still in the making of course and it has no precedent. Well, we have started receiving officials and other staff to the Greek authorities. FRONTEX more or less has what it needs. The European asylum support office has been calling for more participants and I think we have a good, steady flow. The pressure will be felt mainly by EASO in the next few weeks, but of course the Greek government and the other governments will also help.
Now, concerning inflows to Greece, I think the flow has decreased. We are talking about the low hundreds, it is still a three-digit number, but in the range of 100 or 200 persons. You know, this is manageable. The need in terms of identification and accommodation just on the islands after the 20th of March and the needs to deal with asylum seekers. This is exactly what will be the issue in the next weeks. There may be delays there, but we will soon be on top of the problem. All these delays were to be expected, as I said. It is a transition, you know. You understand, the Greek authorities, the European apparatus must adapt to a totally new situation, in order for everyone to be in a position to manage this situation. I believe in two or three weeks, the landscape will be better, much better.
Don’t forget, I said earlier, this is a new, ambitious operation without precedent. We are still on a learning curve, no one has done it before. We are testing our intellectual forces and our political will.
Concluding the previous discussions and this Press Conference, let me say that we are still reacting to a historical reality, we are still learning and from a purely political point of view, I would say, that in recent months we have been hearing about skepticism, Euro-skepticism, about the extreme right, the far right, etc., about extremism, but now we are sending quite an opposite message. These are the forces bringing us together, bringing us closer. This is the progressive Europe of more cohesion. These are the forces of the center, the center-left, those who defend the principles of the French Revolution; those who defend the core of European values. So what brings us together is this humanitarian nucleus of values.
As I said before, we are learning from history, from a historical reality that is happening now. Without any obsessions deriving from the historical past. So in a nutshell, if you will, this is an informal appearance of the coalition of the willing. This is what you have been seeing here today. Thank you. Thank you very much for your presence here.
April 9, 2016