Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs M. Varvitsiotis’ interview on OPEN TV’S morning show “ORA ELLADOS” with journalists A. Tasouli and G. Foskolos-main points (26.08.2021)

“At the moment I do not think there is a clear view on the part of the European Union, but there is a clear view on the part of the Greek government,” was the message sent today by Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis regarding refugee flows from Afghanistan, in an interview on OPEN TV’S morning show “ORA ELLADOS” with journalists Alexia Tasouli and Giannis Foskolos. Mr. Varvitsiotis underlined that Greece is not going to turn “into a transit place for Afghans seeking to enter other EU countries, as it happened in 2015 with the refugees coming from Syria”.

In particular, the Alternate Minister explained that in order for someone from Afghanistan to reach Greece, he needs to cross many Asian countries “where he could have already sought asylum, countries that are particularly friendly to Muslim minorities”. As he characteristically pointed out, “so we are no longer talking about a new refugee wave, but we are talking about people who will choose to take risks to enter the European Union”.

Commenting on the recent contact by telephone between Kyriakos Mitsotakis and R.T. Erdogan, Mr. Varvitsiotis noted that “there seemed to be a common understanding of the problem on the part of Turkey “, while he pointed out that “the climate is different than it was in the case of Syria. Besides, Syria is a neighbouring country to Turkey. Those who fled to Turkey seeking asylum, were genuine refugees.”