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Greek PM: Success of EU-Turkey Deal Will Depend on Low Migration Flows

Tsipras_EUThe deal achieved between the European Union and Turkey was a diplomatic success for Greece in collaboration with Cyprus, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Friday after the European Council meeting on the migration crisis. He warned, however, that it was a “difficult agreement” to implement and that a condition for its success will be a reduction in refugee flows, as seen in recent days.
“We achieved the best that we could achieve with respect to the refugee issue and must now work hard to cope with this difficult crisis we are facing,” Tsipras told reporters in a press conference after the summit. He noted that Greece and Cyprus had successfully fended off the Turkish side’s “unreasonable demands” with respect to the Cyprus issue and managed to have the five chapters blocked by Cyprus and one chapter blocked by Greece “taken off” the table in the talks.
This was done without fanfare but on the basis of a specific plan, he added, while noting that Greece’s agreements with Turkey will be compatible with international and European law.
He also hailed the EU’s success in achieving a common approach to the refugee crisis that was humanitarian and concerned the EU in its entirety.
The Greek prime minister stressed that there could be no solution to the refugee crisis that did not involve an agreement with Turkey, noting that the plan that many had thought abandoned a few days earlier was now a common EU decision, while unilateral decisions were “put on ice.”
Tsipras said that Greece will receive European support in terms of both personnel and resources, with 2,300 asylum and security experts and interpreters expected in Greece to assist in managing the refugees and migrants. “We sought and achieved an agreement for immediate assistance in infrastructure, with reinforcements for the asylum service staff,” Tsipras said, noting that the reinforcements will be arriving within the next few days.
An effort was underway to close off all illegal routes for refugees while opening up legal avenues for refugees entitled to international protection in their stead, the prime minister added, while highlighting the importance of NATO’s assistance, even if the results were modest as yet. He said this would require three “filters”, including action against traffickers operating along the Turkish coast, the NATO operation with Turkey and creating strong disincentives for refugees and migrants.
A successful implementation of the agreement would require a positive attitude from the EU member-states and from Turkey, he warned, adding that Greece’s first priority was to relieve the humanitarian crisis on its northern borders “as a result of the unilateral and illegal actions of certain states, he added.
He appealed to those currently in Idomeni and other informal shelters where their health was at risk to leave the area and make their way to safety in organized accommodations being prepared by Greek authorities, while thanking all the state employees and volunteers providing aid for the refugees.
Replying to reporters’ questions, Tsipras stressed that the staff arriving to assist Greece will be under the orders of Greek authorities, which will be in charge, while denying that the presence of Turkish liaison officers on Greek islands implied any compromise in sovereignty and pointed out that Greece will also have its own liaison officers on the Turkish shores. He again pointed out that the agreement was a success achieved in the face of very different attitudes in Europe, from those that wanted no refugees at all to those happy to ignore the problem as long as it wasn’t “in their back yard.” He criticized those member-states that he said wanted to “selectively” follow the rules that benefit them but ignore the ones that call for sharing burdens.
Implementation of the agreement would also be yet another criterion to be observed by Turkey in its path toward EU accession, he pointed out, adding that a solution to the refugee problem will come only via EU-Turkey cooperation and EU-Turkey rapprochement.
Tsipras also underlined Greece’s position that relocation and resettlement quotas should not be on a voluntary basis but on a proportional basis, depending on each country’s ability to shoulder the burden, and noted that if the countries did not want to accept refugees then they must contribute financially.
Questioned about the row over Alternate Migration Policy Minister Yiannis Mouzalas and demands by the government’s coalition partner ANEL that the minister be removed, Tsipras said he intended to meet with ANEL leader Panos Kammenos when the latter returned from a trip to the United States to discuss the issue and expressed confidence that a “golden compromise” on the issue will be achieved, praising the contribution of both Mouzalas and Kammenos in the effort to manage the refugee and migration crisis.
(source: ana-mpa)

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