Ladies and gentlemen,
It is an honour for me to be here at the 8th Bosphorus Summit.
This Summit has become an important forum for dialogue and understanding of different stakeholders on the most pressing challenges of our time.
I would like in this context to thank the organizers for having given to me this opportunity to share my views at this event.
There is no better time and place to discuss the historical moment we find ourselves in, with conflicts, instabilities and insecurities surrounding us in an era which is becoming more globalised at all levels.
We also find ourselves in a historical place, Istanbul, which lived through centuries of changes and transformations, conflicts and instabilities – and yet managed to retain its unique identity, becoming a pillar of stability, an example of progress in the region: politically, economically and culturally.
Istanbul is an example of interactive, cultural diversity.
Ladies and gentlemen,
We live in volatile times today.
Globalisation makes us feel the volatility that seems sometimes far away but very close at the same time.
The world has shrunk.
And our citizens can feel what is happening across the world in real time, as if it is happening in their neighborhood.
Countries across the globe are experiencing conflicts or instability, directly or indirectly.
Some of these countries are represented here today.
In a globalized and interconnected world today, we are all affected by such geopolitical instabilities and changes.
And they continue to affect us.
A few days ago we all were following the atrocious news of the despicable terrorist attack on a Mosque in Northern Sinai in Egypt.
A vile attack on innocent worshipers, with so many innocent lives lost or destroyed.
Terrorism continues to threaten us all, across nations, borders or religions.
Unfortunately, divisive rhetorics only contribute to deepening the gap between our societies.
Instead we should all work to build bridges and foster mutual understanding, and most importantly: mutual cultural respect.
Because everything starts from there.
One of the biggest tasks we all face today is our common fight against xenophobic and islamophobic discourse.
Islam -and it is a Christian who says so- in its conceptual philosophy is a religion of peace, democracy tolerance and acceptance.
On this road Islam meets the values of Christianity as a religion and culture.
With many of the representatives here today from the Middle-East, from Europe, from Africa, Asia, or South America –
we are all too familiar with the different faces of terrorism inside our societies as well as from outside.
I mentioned before the attack on Egypt a few days ago – but the city and the country we are in today have suffered several terrorist attacks in the past years.
Tunisia or France, Germany or Afghanistan, Bangladesh or the United States – these are only a handful of countries that have had to learn the hard way these last few years.
But if there is one thing that we have learnt very clearly, it is that we can only fight this enormous challenge together, united.
These tragedies bring the world closer beyond and behind cultural differences, building a strong alliance against terrorism, globally.
We need to cooperate, learn from each other and exchange information in our common fight against terrorism.
Above all, we need trust in our international cooperation against this heinous phenomenon.
This has been my biggest challenge to achieve in the EU as the European Commissioner responsible for Migration, Home Affairs, Home Affairs and Citizenship in the last three years. And believe me, it is not an easy task.
I could never imagine three years ago, when I was designated Commissioner with these responsibilities, that in the very short period of only five months that these two issues of migration and security would be on the top, not of the European, but of the global agenda.
So, only through joint actions we can be successful, and by understanding our mutual contexts.
On the EU side, we have been gradually establishing the building blocks towards a genuine and effective Security union.
Here let me tell you that the EU was unprepared as in the areas of both migration and security-and I mean as a Union, because some Member States had experience, but not all of us. And now, we are in a much better position compared to three years ago.
We are closing down avenues for terrorists to travel, to train, to finance themselves, and to acquire weapons and explosives.
We have strengthened the management of our external borders.
We now have the European Border and Coast Guard and we will soon have an EU Entry and Exit System, and the European equivalent of the US ESTA, which we shall call ETIAS.
We will also soon propose to link up our security databases, to better know who gets in and out of the European Union.
We are in parallel working towards the creation of an EU Intelligence Unit to make sure that data on terrorists is shared across the Union automatically – something that I have been championing from the very beginning.
To achieve it we have to continue building trust. This is the key.
Trust: This term that should define our common future, stability and effective cooperation.
I am not naïve.
We all know that it is not easy.
To change the culture in our way of thinking is difficult.
But this is the only way to follow.
This is due to the fact that the so-called deep state remains embedded in our notion of self-definition, our very existence.
And the primary objective of this is national security.
But that national security cannot be achieved without a stable and secure international environment.
Everything has become global: not just the economy but also threats.
Ladies and gentlemen,
In the EU we have recently taken action to better support our Member States in the protection of public spaces, to restrict access to dangerous substances and to tackle terrorist financing.
However, whereas Da’esh territory in Syria and Iraq is getting smaller, the influence of terrorist groups on the internet remains big.
Terrorists continue to use the Internet to: radicalise, recruit, prepare and incite attacks as well as to glorify their atrocities.
This is for example why I have created the EU Internet Forum, in a voluntary partnership with the internet industry.
From Europe, this successful cooperation has gone global.
More than 95% of terrorist content is now being automatically removed by some companies.
In some days from now, I will be hosting the third Forum in Brussels, and count on more companies to join our collaboration.
The internet is not the whole story however.
Terrorist attacks happen in the real world.
We need to continue to be proactive and reinforce our efforts to better understand the causes of radicalisation, across borders.
This is why our Radicalisation Awareness Network also works with different countries outside Europe.
We are facing the same challenges on the ground, and we can only be stronger together to fight this insidious threat to our social cohesion.
The same goes for Europol, which is an agency with an enhanced role today, which has become a key pillar of our counterterrorism efforts at EU level.
We want to further facilitate and intensify international cooperation with Europol. And this is what I propose to all countries, because it is a necessity to start cooperating with that organisation.
Unfortunately, the conflict and instability in our neighbourhood will
not disappear soon.
Of course what we all want and what we all work hard towards is bringing back stability and peace to countries like Syria, Iraq, Libya or Sudan.
But in the meantime, we need to continue helping all those desperate people that are displaced, that have fled the dangers of these conflicts.
I wish to first and foremost commend all those countries in the region that have shown enormous hospitality in hosting millions of displaced people and refugees.
Europe has also played its role.
We have received more than a million and a half people in the last three years, and we have offered protection to more than 700,000 people in need only last year.
Again we have learnt two things very clearly:
– we can and will never become Fortress Europe. Europe will remain an open space and welcoming place for the ones who want to come. But, we had to put some order in our house.
Saving lives and offering protection to those in need remains our fundamental principle -but we also know that we cannot do it alone.
Migration is not a Italian, Greek, Turkish or Syrian challenge.
It has become a global one.
Today more than 65 million displaced people and more than 250 million international migrants across the world expect a global solution.
The same is true for our wider neighborhood, and there we have to work in order to find common solutions. Two years ago, I proposed to the former Secretary General of the UN to convene an extraordinary General Assembly in New York. This happened last year. Leaders from all over the world arrived there and exchanged views on how to address this global phenomenon.
Our cooperation with all neighbours and key partners has become an essential pillar of the European comprehensive approach to migration.
The results and success of the EU-Turkey Statement are one important example.
Together we succeeded in substantially reducing irregular and dangerous crossings, saving lives, which resulted in a drastic decrease of the number of deaths.
The EU also continues to support Turkey through the Facility for Refugees in Turkey, worth EUR 3 billion.
Thanks to this, almost half a million Syrian children receive education and around two million people are able to access healthcare.
In addition, one million of the most vulnerable refugees
are now receiving monthly electronic cash transfers to cover their everyday needs.
I would like, on behalf of the EU, to praise and commend Turkey once again for its tremendous hospitality and enormous humanity that it has shown towards these desperate people.
With Turkey we are also working towards a common goal:
to ensure visa-free travel for Turkish citizens with a biometric passport.
We have the last mile to run: we are working closely with Turkey to complete all requirements. And I would be happy to one day be the first one to announce this great news.
Visa liberalisation will enhance people to people contacts and will further contribute to strengthening our partnership and bringing EU and Turkey closer together.
But the EU is stepping up its cooperation and supports many countries around the world which are trying to deal with displacement.
The current situation in Libya is of particular concern.
I am sure you have watched on the news the dire conditions that vulnerable people stranded in Libya face. This has to stop, it cannot continue. It is disgraceful for our civilisation.
It is a global responsibility not just to relentlessly continue making efforts towards stability, but also to offer humanitarian support to all the desperate people there, and to fight the criminal smuggling networks that are exploiting them.
More importantly, the EU wants to relieve countries hosting large population of refugees, such as Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon but also countries in Africa, not least those along the Central Mediterranean route, through resettlement.
More than 23000 have already been resettled to Europe in the last two years.
But we definitely need to do more.
This is why I have asked EU Member States to resettle a further 50,000 persons from Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon as well as from countries along the Central Mediterranean route in the next two years.
So far the response is positive.
Resettlement should become the preferred way for people to seek and find protection.
And this is also a global responsibility.
Because reducing dangerous and irregular migration routes does not mean that we can give up on our international human rights principles to help the ones in need.
This is a shared duty of the global community: governments, civil society but also the business community.
Everyone can and should help.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Before I close my remarks, I very much wish to welcome the forthcoming visit of President Erdogan to Greece, the first presidential visit after more than 65 years. Something that in my eyes should have become a routine visit of the last 65 years.
Greece and Turkey, but above all, Europe and Turkey have a history that goes back several centuries, having shared moments of both peace and confrontations.
Today, our destiny, our fate continues to be connected.
I am sure that Turkey will continue its European path and come closer to Europe.
Not only geopolitically but in terms of its fundamental principles.
These principals are in fact already embedded in Turkey’s constitution.
All across the world, citizens count on sustained stability and prosperity, based on the rights, freedom and rules of their democratic societies.
It’s a continuous battle we have to keep fighting together.
Nothing, dear friends, should be taken for granted.
Stability, prosperity, the rule of law, freedom the cornerstones of our modern democracies are achieved through alliances and collaboration, through working together across borders, across nations.
The truth is that we all need each other.
To better and more efficiently address these challenges. Tο better manage migration, to jointly fight terrorism, to bring peace and stability globally.
Dear friends,
This neighbourhood of Europe has been for centuries a field of conflicts, combats, divisions and rivalries.
A battleground of ethnic and religious conflicts.
Today, in front of all these challenges that I mentioned before, and with the experiences we have acquired throughout the centuries, our generation is called to prove that we have learnt the lessons of history.
That in the wisdom and common responsibility towards our common future and the generations to come we can share a vision and determination to make this part of the world a paradigm of peace, stability and progress for the whole world.
And believe me, this forum can extend such a strong message and signal and all of you can contribute in achieving this goal.
Thank you very much for your attention.