The European Union’s new pact on migration and asylum needs to be finalized as soon as possible, in anticipation of fresh pressure from the ongoing hostilities in the Middle East, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis stressed on Tuesday, following a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin.
Speaking at a joint press conference after their meeting, Mitsotakis noted that “it is very likely that front-line countries like Greece will face new, strong pressure at its borders” from a fresh influx of refugees fleeing the war in Gaza.
“The new European agreement on migration and asylum must be completed soon on the basis of solidarity and the fair distribution of responsibilities between member-states,” the Greek prime minister said.
“We need a dynamic plan that moves in two directions: preventing illegal entries, on the one hand, and managing legal inflows, on the other,” he added.
The Greek prime minister’s concerns were echoed by Scholz, who noted that “Greece is on the outer border of the EU and has seen irregular migrants arrivals increase significantly this year, but Germany is also facing enormous challenges.”
“This means that we need to find common solutions at the bilateral and European level,” he said, adding that a “European solution” is also needed to stem secondary flows to Germany from other EU countries.
Apart from the impact of the war in Gaza and the European response, Mistotakis and Scholz also discussed a number of other topics, including EU accession talks with the Western Balkans, the rebound of the Greek economy, and bilateral cooperation on energy and investments.
Source : Ekathimerini