- Title: Greek PM says Turkey key partner on migration, EU needs cohesion
- Date: 17th September 2021
- Summary: ATHENS, GREECE (SEPTEMBER 17, 2021) (REUTERS) GREEK PRIME MINISTER KYRIAKOS MITSOTAKIS SEATED DURING INTERVIEW (SOUNDBITE) (English) GREEK PRIME MINISTER, KYRIAKOS MITSOTAKIS, SAYING: "We do consider and I consider as a Greek Prime Minister Turkey as a partner in managing the migration problem and I've had a very open discussion with President (Tayyip) Erdogan, and I think we agreed that it is important too, to keep potential refugees and migrants as close to their home country as possible. Yes, and it does make sense to support Turkey, in helping Turkey to address this problem. On the other hand, I do need to point out that we will not see a repeat of what we saw in 2015." MITSOTAKIS SEATED DURING THE INTERVIEW (SOUNDBITE) (English) GREEK PRIME MINISTER, KYRIAKOS MITSOTAKIS, SAYING: "Even if one were to try such a strategy it would be futile, and there is also a general consensus amongst all European countries at the level of European Council, that we will not accept another wave of unregulated migration, as we had experienced in 2015, that is off the cards and we will do everything we can to prevent that from happening." MITSOTAKIS SEATED (SOUNDBITE) (English) GREEK PRIME MINISTER, KYRIAKOS MITSOTAKIS, SAYING: "We protected our borders, we protected the borders of the European Union, and we'll continue to do so because that is our obligation as Europeans, that is my obligation, as the Greek Prime Minister, so I think there is a very good understanding of what can and what cannot happen, and I'm looking forward towards constructively working with Turkey to address this problem and Turkey has an important role to play." MITSOTAKIS (SOUNDBITE) (English) GREEK PRIME MINISTER, KYRIAKOS MITSOTAKIS, SAYING: "On the main issue of agreeing on a European policy on migration asylum, we are clearly not there yet. We need common rules regarding asylum. It doesn't make sense for people to do asylum shopping - move from one country to another, they should know that will be they will be treated fairly, but with the same standards, and of course, we need to do more on returns at the European level, we need to communicate very clearly, with the countries of origin that they need to be able to take people back and that their cooperation in my mind is conditional." MITSOTAKIS (SOUNDBITE) (English) GREEK PRIME MINISTER, KYRIAKOS MITSOTAKIS, SAYING: "We have covered the lost ground from the pandemic and I am very happy with the performance of the economy overall. We revised our growth forecasts to 5.9% for the year. And I am confident that the recovery ahead of us is going to be sustainable, but also a just recovery." MITSOTAKIS (SOUNDBITE) (English) GREEK PRIME MINISTER, KYRIAKOS MITSOTAKIS, SAYING: "Because the economy is growing, I feel comfortable that our public finances are fully sustainable, so we will produce primary surpluses in 2023, but we will do it by growing the economy, and not by overtaxing the middle class, which is exactly what the previous government did." MITSOTAKIS (SOUNDBITE) (English) GREEK PRIME MINISTER, KYRIAKOS MITSOTAKIS, SAYING: "We have proven that you can travel safely even at a time when the pandemic is still with us, there was clearly a pent-up demand for tourism, people really wanted to travel and we made it very clear we are open to business." MITSOTAKIS SEATED DURING THE INTERVIEW
- Embargoed: 1st October 2021 21:17
- Keywords: Greece Mitsotakis Turkey climate change migration prime minister tourism
- Location: ATHENS, GREECE
- City: ATHENS, GREECE
- Country: Greece
- Topics: Europe,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001EV3XTTZ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Friday (September 17) Turkey was an important partner in tackling any new migration challenge to Europe and needed support, adding Europe itself has not delivered on a common policy in addressing the migrant issue.
More than a million refugees and migrants fleeing conflict in Syria and elsewhere crossed into Europe via Greece and Turkey in 2015 and early 2016.
Mitsotakis, whose conservative New Democracy party government came to power in 2019 with a harder stance towards unchecked migration, vows there will not be a re-run of 2015. That was, he said, a general consensus among all EU members.
"I consider...Turkey is a partner in managing the migration problem and I've had a very open discussion with President (Tayyip) Erdogan, and I think we agreed that it is important to keep potential refugees and migrants as close to their home country as possible. And yes, it does make sense to support Turkey, in helping Turkey to address this problem. On the other hand, I do need to point out that we will not see a repeat of what we saw in 2015," he told Reuters in an interview.
"That is off the cards and we will do everything that we can to prevent that from happening," he added.
But the dramatic events unfolding in Afghanistan by a take-over of the Taliban movement have fuelled fears of a new refugee crisis.
Migrant arrivals to Greece, either by land or by sea, have overall slowed to a trickle since 2016 when the EU agreed on a deal with Turkey to stem the flows in exchange for financial support.
Mitsotakis said any attempts by Turkey to allow migrants to head towards Greece's borders unhindered, as was the case at the countries' northern land border in 2020, would be "futile."
"We protected our borders," said Mitsotakis of 2020, "We protected the borders of the European Union, and we'll continue to do so…so I think there is a very good understanding of what can and what cannot happen."
The Greek prime minister said a cohesive policy in the EU on how to handle a mass influx was still lacking.
"On the main issue of agreeing on a European policy on migration asylum we are clearly not there yet," he said. "We need common rules regarding asylum. It doesn't make sense for people to do asylum shopping - move from one country to another."
Mitsotakis also commented on the economy, saying the country is on track to produce a primary surplus from 2023, as the country's economy had shown resilience to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We have covered the lost ground from the pandemic and I am very happy with the performance of the economy overall," he said.
He said Greece would likely exceed its forecast earnings from tourism this year, and expressed hope the country could return to investment grade 'sooner rather than later'.
"We have proven that you can travel safely even at a time when the pandemic is with us, there was clearly a pent-up demand for tourism, people really wanted to travel and we made it very clear we are open to business," he said.
Greece, which saw a quarter of its national output sapped by almost a decade of financial turmoil starting in 2010, had emerged from recession in 2017. But the pandemic took its toll on the country's economy in 2020 when lockdowns and a downturn in tourism - a key money maker - sent the economy into a tailspin.
Just 7 million people visited the country last year, bringing in revenues of 4 billion euros, compared with a record 33 million tourists and 18 billion euros in revenues in 2019. Now, Mitsotakis said, Greece appeared to be on course to exceed 50 percent of 2019 visitor revenues.
(Production: Vassilis Triandafyllou, Deborah Kyvrikosaios) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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