Today, I had the pleasure of receiving the Austrian Minister of European and International Affairs, Alexander Schallenberg.
Our talks were dominated by the man-made crisis on the land and sea borders of Greece and Europe – a crisis caused by decision of the Turkish leadership.
Right now, Greece is defending the borders of Europe. Obviously, not from the thousands of unfortunate people who have fallen victim to organized and absolutely condemnable manipulation, but from an unprecedented, cynical decision of the Turkish leadership to use these people as a human battering ram, in order to exert diplomatic pressure on Europe. Pressure that includes the use of minors as spearhead.
Despite the continuous assurances of my Turkish counterpart that Turkey is honouring its commitments deriving from the Joint Statement of 2016, Ankara is brazenly violating this agreement, not only proclaiming that the borders are open, but also helping thousands of unsuspecting people to travel to our land or sea borders.
Consequently, the mix of this aggressive instrumentalization of these people’s misfortune has been staged by a specific director.
This is an asymmetrical threat to Europe. A threat that has been organized and strengthened, in word and deed, by the Turkish side, through tactics such as the fabrication and dissemination of fake news and the urging of migrants, by the Turkish authorities, to move towards the Greek and European borders.
At this Friday’s extraordinary meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council, we will have the opportunity to discuss how we should address this threat collectively. I have already spoken by telephone all my EU colleagues, and a short while ago I completed my briefing of the ambassadors of the EU member states and those of the permanent members of the UN Security Council.
Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, is in the Evros region right now, together with the Presidents of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the European Council, Charles Michel the European Parliament, David Sassoli and the Prime Minister of Croatia, Andrej Plenkovic.
This is already a strong indication of the solidarity and support from all the European institutions.
We expect the same tangible support and collective responsibility from all of the EU member states, without exception. European solidarity must go beyond words.
My colleague – to whom I conveyed the Greek government’s appreciation for Austria’s immediate expression of willingness to contribute to dealing with the crisis – and I also discussed the latest developments in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Here, too, Turkey's conduct, as a rule, violates international legality and is often provocative, employing well known tactics, violating the Libya arms embargo and attempting to usurp our sovereign rights.
A policy that jeopardises peace and stability on the southern borders of the EU, undermining our collective efforts and fuelling challenges such as irregular migration and terrorism.
We also talked about the European perspective of the countries of the Western Balkans, following the Thessaloniki Conference and ahead of the Zagreb European Council meeting.
We agreed that the future of the Western Balkans is in the EU. Their accession is the strongest guarantee of prosperity and stability in south-east Europe, constituting a strategic investment for a Europe that is united, stable and strong. Of course, under the condition that the candidate States fully accept the acquis and fulfil their obligations.
Finally, we of course discussed about our bilateral relations, which are excellent, and we agreed to make every effort to make them even stronger.
Dear Minister, dear Alexander, welcome to Athens.
JOURNALIST: A double question, for both ministers. Given the volatile situation on the islands, Mr. Dendias, did you ask the ambassadors and your counterparts to share the burden of asylum applicants who are trapped on the islands? Mr. Schallenberg, when you say active support of Greece, are you talking about sharing the burden of asylum seekers?
N. DENDIAS: Thank you for the question. The subject of today’s briefing of the ambassadors and my counterparts, with whom I spoke by telephone – as well as during my conversation with my colleague Mr. Schallenberg – had to do with what the country is facing and the efforts being made to deal with this phenomenon. We didn’t go beyond that to matters that already exist and are covered by European Law. Of course, as you know, on Friday, Article 78, paragraph 3 of the Treaty was invoked on the level of the Council, and that covers what you raised in your question. However, in the current circumstances, the first thing we discussed with my colleagues is how to deal with a situation in which the misfortune of these people who are trying to get to the borders of Europe is clearly being fomented and exploited. That was the subject of our discussions.
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JOURNALIST: In the European Union in general, there is the opinion that we should not allow Turkey to intimidate us. But do you believe there is a way solve the issue without Turkey? In other words, without giving money to Turkey or without a new agreement with Turkey? The question is for both ministers.
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Ν. DENDIAS: Thank you for your question. I’ll answer in pretty much the same way as my Austrian colleague. The European Union has decided on generous support for Turkey, in reality, for the migrants and refugees living in Turkey. The amount is €6 billion. And if our information from the European Union is correct, this sum has not been fully absorbed. Beyond that, regardless of any objections Turkey might have as to the way this money is disbursed, the exploitation of human suffering to exert pressure on the European Union is completely unacceptable. It is a complete violation of the human rights of these people and of any existing convention on the protection of human rights – in addition, of course, to the 2016 agreement between Turkey and the European Union. And I must remind you that Greece has always, always supported assisting these distressed people who are residing on Turkish territory, while isolating this issue – at a political cost to the government, if you will – from other Greek-Turkish disputes. But the attempt to exploit human suffering, human misfortune, is completely unacceptable.
And allow me to say that, in addition to this, it also creates major risks for the European Union, given that it might make it completely impossible to control those entering the Union’s territory, in violation of Turkey’s contractual obligations – and you understand what risks I am referring to.
March 3, 2020