The European Union’s new pact on migration and asylum must be finalized as soon as possible ahead of new pressure from ongoing military operations in the Middle East, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis emphasized on Tuesday after a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin.
Speaking at a joint press conference after the meeting, Mitsotakis noted that “It is very likely that frontline countries such as Greece will face new strong pressure on their borders“, due to a new influx of refugees fleeing the war in the Gaza Strip.
“A new European agreement on migration and asylum must be finalized as soon as possible, based on solidarity and a fair sharing of responsibilities between member states,” – said the Greek Prime Minister.
“We need a dynamic plan that will move in two directions: on the one hand, preventing illegal entry, and on the other, managing the legal influx“, he added.
Scholz echoed the Greek Prime Minister’s concerns, noting that “Greece is on the outer border EUand this year the number of illegal migrant arrivals has increased significantly, but Germany also faces 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 necessary in order to stop secondary flows of migrants to Germany from other EU countries.
In addition to the fallout from the Gaza war and Europe’s response, Mistotakis and Scholz discussed a number of other topics, including EU accession negotiations for the Western Balkans, the rise of the Greek economy, and bilateral cooperation on energy and investment.
Mitsotakis confirmed the significant improvement in Greek-German relations at all levels. Referring to Greek-German economic relations, he said:
“This year we have broken a record in the number of tourist arrivals, with German tourists preferring Greece, German companies occupy the first place among foreign investors in our country, a favorable situation has also developed in bilateral trade, since Germany is our second main supplier and third largest consumer of Greek products. For these reasons, Germany will be the country of honor at the next International Fair in Thessaloniki, and I had the opportunity to invite Chancellor Scholz to visit the fair.”
The Greek Prime Minister also noted the importance of cooperation in the field of energy, emphasizing the high geostrategic importance of the green energy corridor between north and south, which, according to him, is an important step towards independence from Russian energy and towards the development of renewable energy sources. The Greek prime minister also discussed the Cyprus issue with Scholz and informed him of efforts to “direct Greek-Turkish relations in a calm direction.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, at a meeting with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the Chancellery, said that the crisis in the Middle East, the war in Ukraine, EU enlargement, migration, energy and climate protection were the main topics of negotiations, and expressed satisfaction with the progress achieved on a number of questions.
Speaking at a joint press conference after the meeting, Scholz confirmed Berlin’s position that “Israel has the right and obligation to defend itself, always within the framework of international law,” and expressed support “humanitarian pauses”allowing the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. He also reminded reporters of the atrocities committed by Hamas and demanded the immediate and unconditional release of Israeli hostages, noting that he is a supporter of a two-state solution.
Speaking about Ukraine, Scholz stressed that they agree with Mitsotakis to continue to support the country’s defense, noting that Germany supports the enlargement of the European Union, provided that the countries participating in it complete the necessary reforms.
On migration, the German Chancellor demanded the speedy completion of a review of European asylum laws, citing the need for bilateral and European solutions to address the issue of secondary migration to Germany.
“Hamas is a terrorist organization. We agree with this [с премьер-министром Греции]”said Chancellor Scholz.
Both leaders stressed that Israel has the right to self-defense.
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