Greece will be tried very hard if the European Union-Turkey deal on curbing the refugee flow collapses, Deputy Migration Minister Yiannis Mouzalas said.
At the same time, other European countries will suffer if there is a new surge of migrants and refugees from Turkey flooding Europe’s eastern borders.
Mouzalas spoke on Skai television on Thursday saying that “no country in Europe is prepared to handle such flows,” referring to the relentless and massive inflow of migrants from the Turkish shores, landing on neighboring Greek islands before the March agreement.
“We fear, we are preparing and we keep in mind that this problem will try us hard if it happens. We have 60,000 people now, this is a number that we can manage … If the flows resume, we will not die, we will continue to exist, our children will continue to play, but it will be a trial for us,” Mouzalas said.
The minister clarified that, “We are not going to solve the refugee issue; what we do is crisis management.” He said that EU leaders work hard so that the deal with Turkey remains in place.
Mouzalas further said that of the 60,000 refugees and migrants currently in Greece, 30,000-40,000 have the right to move to Europe, but there are delays.
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