Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said that the European Union is proceeding in the right direction but it “is moving at a turtle’s pace” on the refugee issue.
Tsipras spoke after the first day of a EU summit on the migration and refugee issue in Brussels. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker briefed European leaders about the deal offered to Turkey to aid on the refugee influx.
Europe asked Turkey to keep a larger number of refugees within its borders by encouraging them to stay there and tackle human traffickers who operate along its coasts, transferring asylum seekers and migrants to Greece via the sea.
The deal came after European Commission officials visited Turkey on Thursday trying to persuade the government to sign up to the plan, following a visit by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Brussels last week.
Turkish officials presented Europe with a list of requests, namely three billion euros in new aid, easing visa restrictions for Turkish nationals, opening new chapters in Turkey’s long-stalled accession negotiations for EU membership, being included on the list of “safe countries” for asylum and more Turkey-EU summits, a EU source said.
Speaking about the EU’s agreement with Turkey, Tsipras said the issue of cooperating with Turkey on migration had been raised by Greece in March this year. The agreement with the neighbouring country would allow the setup of facilities at “hotspots” – areas which handle large numbers of migrants – and place the burden of dealing with the processing of people on Turkey itself. “This will allow us to reduce the massive cost of lives in the Aegean Sea by refugees who board boats of traffickers and put their lives in danger,” the PM said.
The agreement with Turkey must not entail any compromises on critical issues, he said, “especially on matters of national sovereignty, a point agreed upon by all EU members.” Referring to Turkey’s preliminary application for membership to the EU, he said, “The membership process has some principles. These principles and terms must be followed to the last detail.”
Tsipras also reiterated that the EU should recognise the huge financial burden placed on countries like Greece in terms of refugees and should provide a loosening of fiscal policy demands as well as financial support.
“This is a stance that will be discussed in the future,” he noted, “and we have supported it. It will have a direct impact on Greece’s ability to respond to its [fiscal] obligations and to its great humanitarian obligation to welcome refugees and face the massive challenges of these [migrant] flows that exceed its abilities to cope,” he added.
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