In statements to the press on Friday, the second day of her visit to Greece, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs Victoria Nuland repeatedly stressed that her visit sought to demonstrate US solidarity in the face of the intense challenges posed by the migration crisis and to better understand how the U.S. could be helpful.
“I came at this time to express American solidarity with Greece during these difficult times with the migration crisis, since your border has closed to the north, and to better understand what is happening in northern Greece,” she said. Nuland also declared herself impressed and repeatedly praised the “enormous generosity” of individuals and local people in Greece toward the refugees.
The United States were closely watching the ongoing talks for an agreement on a European level, she added, both between the EU and Turkey and those between Turkey and Greece.
“We want to help so that this agreement is concluded in a fair, clear and transparent way,” she noted, referring to the resettlement process in particular.
Reporting on her visits to the refugee relocation center in Diavata on Thursday and then to the refugee camp at Idomeni, Nuland said the former was very well organized and should serve as a model for others set up in Greece under the EU-Turkey resettlement agreement. In Idomeni, by contrast, she reported substandard conditions, with desperate families and children living in the mud, despite the great efforts of the Greek police, non-governmental organizations such as Doctors Without Borders to provide relief and the great generosity of the local people. The U.S. official underlined the need to find better accommodation for the people there and said this was among the issues she discussed with the Greek side, namely how to build more centers like that in Diavata.
“We want to support Greece by helping it implement the agreements with the EU and between the EU and Turkey,” she said, repeating that her visit aimed to see how much the United States can help and how.
Referring to her meetings on Friday, Nuland said she met Minister of State Nikos Pappas at the prime minister’s office and the foreign ministry general secretary at the foreign ministry. She said the discussion had centered on the return of the institutions and the economic situation — where Washington encouraged Greece to reach an agreement so that it can then move on to the phase of discussing debt relief. They also discussed energy security, the Cyprus issue and other foreign policy issues, she added, while stressing that the main aim of her current visit was to get a better understanding of the situation relating to the migration crisis and how the U.S. can help.
Nuland said that Greece has asked for U.S. assistance and she noted that the U.S. will likely respond in the next few days by providing emergency humanitarian aid, while continuing to work with Greece for a correct implementation of the relocation and resettlement programs. Her visit, she added, aimed to assist the upcoming agreements on a European level between the EU and Turkey, as well as the cooperation of Greece and Turkey and other countries in the region in order to reinforce efforts for a ceasefire in Syria and a UN-brokered political settlement.
(source: ana-mpa)
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