United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon met with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos on the first leg of his two-day visit to Greece. During the dinner at the Acropolis Museum, he discussed the refugee crisis with Greek leaders. Present at the dinner was Speaker of Greek Parliament, Nikos Voutsis, as well as the leader of the main opposition New Democracy party Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
His focus on the refugee crisis comes at a time when Greek authorities are intensifying efforts to process asylum applications, setting up new committees to deal with a backlog in claims.
On Friday afternoon, he met with Stelios Zavvos, head of the Non-Government Organization “Solidarity Now.” The center has offered its services to more than 40,000 people since 2014, offering them medical, legal and social services for free. During his visit, he said that the world should be building bridges between people instead of building walls.
He described the refugee crisis as an international issue and asked the international community to provide humanitarian help. “I can understand the challenges created as hundreds of thousands of people arrive every day,” he said. “The numbers are large. However, this is not a crisis of numbers; it’s a crisis of solidarity.” He also urged European and Asian countries to expand the legal routes for refugees and provide education, work opportunities and scholarships to the newcomers. He also said the U.N.’s general meeting will discuss the refugee crisis on September 19.
On Saturday, Ki-moon is heading to Lesvos where he will meet with refugees and asylum seekers as well as organizations.
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