Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis welcomed the EU’s tougher stance on illegal migration but added that he remains “skeptical” of proposals of offshore “return hubs,” proposed by several EU members.
EU leaders meeting in Brussels on Thursday discussed the idea of “Return hubs,” offshore centers for people deported from the bloc.
Greece open for EU innovative solutions to migration
The Guardian reports that before the summit, 11 national leaders took part in a meeting organized by Italy, Denmark and the Netherlands to discuss “innovative solutions”. European Commission president Von der Leyen and the leaders of Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Greece, Cyprus and Malta attended the meeting.
Speaking to reporters Ursula von der Leyen said EU leaders had discussed the idea of “developing return hubs outside the European Union” for people with no right to stay.
But she admitted there were open questions: “How long can people be there? What are you doing, for example, if a return is not possible?”
Mitsotakis said Greece is “eager to find out more about the innovative solutions proposed by the European Commission and I am happy about the fact that we recognize that we need to think out of the box in order to address this pressing concern.”
Mitsotakis skeptical on return hubs
However, in an interview with the Financial Times (FT) he expressed his skepticism for return hubs, such as the one agreed between Italy and Albania. Recently the two countries agreed to establish a return hub in Albania, where illegal migrants intercepted by Italy at sea or apprehended on land would be processed and deported.
“This is a bilateral arrangement. I don’t know if it could be replicated at the European level,” he told the FT. “We also need to see if it actually works. These people are being identified under Italian asylum law and whatever happens to them, one way or another, they will be returned to Italy. If we did it at the European level. . .Where would they go?” he added.
“What is missing from our European strategy is an effective returns policy,” Mitsotakis said, adding that he was “particularly pleased that this is something also recognized by the President of the European Commission, whom it seems we will authorize to be able to present innovative proposals to the Council so that we can make the returns of those who are not entitled to asylum to their countries of origin as effective as possible.”
Greece wants more legal migration: “Who will pick our olives?”
He emphasized that returns must also be made to Turkey because this is also part of the EU-Turkey agreement of 2016.
“The EU has moved closer to the Greek positions regarding asylum…the European Council is saying… that ‘if you are not eligible to remain in Europe you must return.’ It is the right policy, Greece always supported (it)…It is us who set the rules for the entry of economic migrants, not the traffickers,” the Greek PM added.
Mitsotakis also called on the EU to increase legal immigration alongside efforts to curb irregular entry, as there is a great need for skilled and unskilled workers in Europe’s economy.
“If you want to build a big fence, you also need a big door,” Mitsotakis said, highlighting Greece’s labor shortage.
“Who will pick our olives? We are a shrinking continent and we all recognize that to maintain our productivity, we will need a workforce, unskilled or skilled,” he told the FT.
