President of the Hellenic Republic Prokopis Pavlopoulos received visiting European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship Dimitris Avramopoulos, on Friday. Avramopoulos is currently in Athens for meetings with European officials on the migration and refugee crisis.
“The European Union‘s unit of measurement are people, not currencies. The currency exists to serve people,” the president noted as he met the Greek EU Commissioner.
Pavlopoulos, who will be representing Greece at next Wednesday’s EU summit on migration, noted that this meeting brings back to the surface the real ‘pillars’ on which Europe was built:
“It is well known that the EU’s pediment is supported by three pillars: ancient Greece, with its spirit and freedom, on Rome that forms the basis of the state edifice and on Christianity, which is the basis for solidarity,” he said. The decision to call the summit proved that the EU wants to overcome any problems that exist between the member-states, albeit with some delay, he added.
The Commissioner expressed hope that the “European spirit will prevail” and noted that the first installment of 33 million euros – out of a total of 470 million euros available for migration issues in Greece – will be disbursed next week.
He also expressed disappointment with the stance adopted by some countries and hopes that this will change, with all member-states taking on their share of the burden. If things do not go well from that point on, the fault will lie with the member-states, which have a huge responsibility, and not with European institutions, he added.
Greek PM Highlights European Scale of the Crisis
The Commissioner also met caretaker Prime Minister Vassiliki Thanou, who repeated that the problem is European, not Greek, and must be collectively addressed by all EU countries.
“Our government is making great efforts. We consider that the influx is under control at this time, though this does not reduce the intensity and acuteness of the problem,” Thanou said.
She informed Avramopoulos that the government is currently collecting all necessary information for next Wednesday’s EU summit, in order to hand this over to the next prime minister that will take over after Sunday’s elections. She stressed that the upcoming summit must provide solutions, given that the problem had become acute and was spreading within the EU.
“We are all under pressure,” Avramopoulos replied, saying that the last ministers’ council on this issue was unsuccessful because some countries had adopted different positions.
He noted that the situation in Greece had improved, especially at the exit points, even though migration flows were continuing. He also stressed that Europe will support Greece in the handling of migration flows, both financially and with technical expertise, in order to optimise management of the problem.
(Source: ANA-MPA)
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