Former European Commissioner and Member of Parliament Dimitris Avramopoulos took part in this year’s Doha Forum as a speaker in a panel discussion entitled “Building Bridges: Managing Migration, Economic Integration and Regional Resilience.” The panel also included Ian Borg, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Tourism of Malta, Constantinos Kombos, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus, and Panagiotis Michalos, President of the “Dialogues of Nisyros.”
In his remarks, Mr Avramopoulos focused on the key lessons from the major migration crisis of 2015 and on his experience in managing migration and security. From this perspective, he underlined that migration has now acquired global dimensions and at the same time has become a domestic political issue, fuelling xenophobia, populism and nationalism, especially in European countries.
At the same time, he stressed that Europe, as an ageing continent, is in need of migrants, yet lacks sufficient legal pathways for entry, with the result that frontline countries are subjected to disproportionate pressure.
In this context, he described the recent Pact on Migration and Asylum as a failure of European policy, as it does not respond to the Union’s real needs and divides Europe into North and South.
With regard to the strategy for the future, Mr Avramopoulos emphasized the need to move from crisis management to genuinely strategic governance, with particular focus on strengthening development programmes in countries of origin.
Referring to the EU–Turkey Statement, which he himself negotiated, he pointed out that it has been upheld for a number of years and clarified that, during the events at Evros in 2020, the Greek government acted correctly in halting the waves of irregular migration from Turkey to Europe.
In conclusion, Mr Avramopoulos highlighted the dramatic humanitarian dimension of the migration crisis, especially in the Mediterranean, and stressed that migration is not only a challenge but also an opportunity, as it can serve as a “bridge” between cultures and civilizations. He noted that this issue will also be the subject of discussion at the upcoming Forum of the United Nations “Alliance of Civilizations” in Riyadh in the coming days, in which he will participate.
During his stay in Doha, Mr Avramopoulos also held a series of meetings with leaders and international figures, including former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, with whom—having already developed close cooperation during the period of the major migration crisis—he exchanged views on migration.