Europe, in addition to being an area of common interests, is also an area of humanity and we are ready to receive all those people who experience the cruelty of war, stressed Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis, speaking today at the online event ‘The War in Ukraine and the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum’ organized by the Postgraduate Program in International Law and Diplomatic Studies of the Panteion University, in the context of the Conference on the Future of Europe.
Mr. Varvitsiotis noted that the crisis in Ukraine has created the largest migratory flow in Europe since World War II and it is important for these people to find in Europe not only the temporary protection they need but to also continue with their lives, especially the women and children, who need to go to school and complete their education in universities. The role of academia in this effort is important, he added. Mr. Varvitsiotis noted that 14,000 refugees have already arrived in our country, a number that is expected to rise when Diaspora Greeks are evacuated from the area of Mariupol, whom “we will welcome like brothers, in the context of the rules not only of humanitarian and international law, but also of the principles that unite us all as Greeks”.
The Alternate Minister noted that countries that in previous cases had closed their borders and did not want to participate in fair burden-sharing are now at the front line of this battle. This, he noted, paves the way for reaching a consensus in the EU “on how we perceive solidarity on the issues of migration”, as it helps realize that refugee flows are not the concern of just one country or one category of refugees.
In addition, Mr. Varvitsiotis pointed out that the food crisis caused by the war in Ukraine, which will be particularly felt in North Africa and the Middle East, may cause social unrest in these regions and consequently a new influx of refugees from the South. “We need to also deal with possible new migratory flows in the same way that Europe is addressing the current refugee crisis, that is, by funding the countries of first reception, so that their social welfare systems do not collapse”, he emphasized.