Video: https://youtu.be/-cp6gprP0vo
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a great pleasure for me to be here at this very important gathering and to participate in this very important conference. I am especially thankful to the President of the Hellenic American University, Mr. Koskos for this invitation.
You know that I am on my way to the USA and I came to Athens shortly to be part of this very important meeting, at this very place, where I have spent some years of my youth. You may not know it, but I was a student of this institution some years ago. I would like to congratulate you for this initiative, which demonstrates yet again the values of this university, but also the central, pivotal role of all universities participating in the dialogue that started on addressing the challenges of our time.
Central among those, the future of Europe and of the Euro-Atlantic relations. We are at a historic juncture, where both Europe and the United States are at a crossroads. I am not going to further elaborate on the EU-US relations today.
Just one day after an important Informal European Summit, in Salzburg, the focus is of course on the internal policies that will define our common future.
I would like to nevertheless underline that both the EU and the US are confronted with huge challenges with a common denominator: there are challenges very close to our citizens concerns in both sides of the Atlantic.
I work closely with our US partners to deepen our cooperation and dialogue on security. I am even more optimistic about it, following the successful meeting of President Juncker with President Trump, that ended a trade war before it has even started. On a daily basis, we are all recipients of worrying news. News, which bring to mind difficult times for today’s generations and even more difficult for the next one. Without doubt, these are times that require a strong sense of responsibility, bold decisions and clear-cut political choices.
Citizens, as you correctly said before, are worried; and they are fully justified in seeking reliable solutions to break free from the uncertainty and insecurity, which is everywhere around us.
Today, sixty years after the establishment of the European Community, Europe is experiencing the first earthquake at its very foundations.
Coming in the wake of the economic crisis, the unprecedented migratory flows, and the parallel crisis from consecutive terrorist attacks, are calling our fundaments into question.
Europe was not ready to face these parallel crises. The Union was unprepared. Member States were unprepared. Europe was taken by surprise in 2015 and took us some time to realise that there is a crisis ahead. The basic principles on which the European project was built, those of solidarity and responsibility, are being shaken and questioned. Without these very principles, however, there can be no Europe. It is our duty to defend and protect these principles, as the generation that inherited the vision of Schuman and Monnet. And this is what we strive to do, as guardians of the treaties. All European leaders need to realise this responsibility, and do the same. I have the responsibility to handle our response to the parallel crises on migration and internal security, in the name of a united Europe.
And I will be frank, not always under the easiest conditions in terms of understanding and cooperation with some European governments. Here, I make a distinction, between Member States and governments. It’s better to avoid referring to Member States. But governments should know that they come and go. The states will be there.
From the ashes of the two world wars, this vision of the great leaders of that time, Schuman and Monnet – prudent, visionary and determined leaders – have built a Europe of peace, democracy, stability and progress.
They left behind the traumatic experiences of centuries past, and fought to build a union of states on the basis of solidarity and responsibility. It’s good to know that the term “solidarity” is mentioned in the text of the founding Treaties 17 times. Shared and pooled sovereignty. Consensus and shared decision-making over conflict and division. These principles are not simply ethical norms. They are legally binding on all Member States that have agreed and accepted the founding Treaties of the Union. Today, sixty years after the signing of the Treaty of Rome these principles are being questioned. The dark forces of populism and nationalism are throwing them into doubt. They do so knowingly, undermining the European project. Almost oblivious of the past, they take prosperity, democracy and progress for granted.
Some governments, looking only inwards and ignoring their historical responsibilities, have deliberately created favourable ground for Euroscepticism, introducing populism into everyday political discourse. In doing this, they are turning their back to fundamental European principles and values such as the rule of law, solidarity and shared responsibility. This historical hubris is the consequence of Europe’s biggest crisis to date: an existential crisis.
For the first time in its history, our Union is getting smaller, as one member decided to abandon it. But this does not make us weaker. On the contrary, the Member States are sending a strong signal every day in favour of our democracy and of our common European path, by showing respect to the principles of solidarity and diversity.
The recent tragic events stunned our societies and cultivated fear. Our aim is to protect Europe and safeguard the security of our citizens. At the same time, we must continue to defend openness and tolerance, which constitute the basis of the European edifice. It is no exaggeration to say that the way we handle these parallel crises of migration and security will, to a large extent, also determine the future of our Union.
Some believed that the Union would be challenged by the severe financial crisis. It turns out that the real challenge of this era in history is the migration crisis. And this because this crisis has threatened the two fundamental principles I mentioned before: solidarity and responsibility.
Migration is therefore a key priority. That is why President Juncker created the Migration portfolio for the very first time in the year 2014 and appointed the first Commissioner for Migration. The Commission was approved and confirmed by the European Parliament. For me, it was an honour, but also a great responsibility and a particular challenge to take up this very important endeavour, because as a citizen of Greece I am at the very heart of the migration crisis. And, as Mayor of Athens at that time, I had experienced what it means for a hosting city and country to open its doors to a big number of Albanians, who at that time fled their country, after the collapse of communism.
We are making every possible effort and we are working towards promoting a common European approach in order to deal with migration. A phaenomenon that will be here for many decades ahead. Whether we want to admit and accept it or not, we are living the era of human mobility. It’s good to know that almost 75 million people are refugees somewhere in the world and more than 260 million are migrants, seeking for a better life somewhere in the world. That’s why it has become a global issue. And, just two years ago, I took the initiative to meet the Former Secretary General of the UN and proposed to convene, in New York, an extraordinary General Assembly on migration, something that happened. And, as you remember, at the same time, President Obama had done the same. So, the whole world is globalised, but Europe is in the epicentre of this moment.
This also reflects the will of most citizens, as according to the recent Eurobarometer, the majority of Europeans want a common European solution to migration and this is what we have been trying to do over the past three years. We have made significant progress in the area of migration, but much more has to be done.
From the very first moment, we have stepped up our efforts and succeeded in adopting, for the first time in Europe, the European Agenda on Migration. We did not only address immediate challenges but proposed a long-term strategy.
It is important that we move forward and manage this phenomenon in a sustainable and effective manner.
Europe needs to be better prepared for any possible future crisis, because we don’t know what the future is holding for us. You know that we live in a very unstable period. An arch of instability stretches from Tunisia to Ukraine. For us in Greece, it’s good to know that we are very close to the very heart of this unstable geopolitical environment.
Coming back to migration, the reform of the Common European Asylum System is still our priority. We must strike the right balance between responsibility and solidarity. We need a more harmonized and efficient system where burdens are shared equally and fairly. Where all Member States will have the same reception conditions and apply the same asylum procedures. We must continue our action to save lives, which is our human duty; protecting migrant children; creating safe and legal pathways to Europe; protecting our external borders; fighting criminal networks of traffickers and effectively returning those who do not have the right to stay in the EU.
Our returns policy, and how effective it is, is a crucial element. Returns are an important factor towards preventing irregular migration. Working together, the Union will put more pressure on third countries to ensure their co-operation on readmission and returns. I have been travelling from the one top of Africa to another, in order to negotiate with governments of these countries to take their citizens back and cooperate with us, because we shouldn’t forget that Europe is the main donor in terms f development to these countries. So, we have very strong leverage in our hands to convince them, but we treat them in a very respectful way. The colonial times have finished and this is something, some leaders in Europe should understand, who believe that by discussing issues with Africa, they can treat African governments as they were doing two centuries ago. But Europe is showing the way.
We must admit and acknowledge that the migratory flows are not going to subside easily. Stabilization can only be achieved on a long-term basis, with deep, structural reforms. An important step towards this direction is the successful implementation so far of the EU-Turkey Statement, which has greatly reduced irregular arrivals in the Eastern Mediterranean. I remind you that in 2015, more than 13-14.000 people were crossing the European Borders over the Aegean sea. But numbers have gone down dramatically, thanks to the implementation of this Statement. And I want to clarify something for our prominent professors here: we are not talking about an Agreement, because it would have to be ratified by national parliaments and this would never happen. We were looking for ideas, until we discovered this method of the Statement. And Turkey is respecting the Statement.
A similar project cannot be implemented with other countries, because some are writing in newspapers that propose to the same thing with Libya. But, in Libya the situation is chaotic. I was in Libya, I was one of the first to land in the airport of Tripolis. This is an experience that I will never forget, because, in order to discuss with the internationally recognised government, the poor minister, in order to come and join us, had to cross 10 checkpoints by uncontrolled militias, who have control over the entire country, including the smugglers networks.
In addition to our cooperation with Turkey, we are stepping up our efforts in the Central Mediterranean route. It is important for Europe to show solidarity to Africa and to address the root causes of migration. Closer cooperation with third countries on all aspects of migration is a necessity.
Regarding legal migration, Europe is a continent that is aging with skills shortages in important sectors of our economy. We shall be in need, very soon, of a large number of migrants. But, the ones, who want to come to Europe, should follow legal pathways, something that was not existing before, because, as I said in the beginning, there was no migration policy in Europe. Only a few Member States had an experience of that. For the rest of the countries, we had an experience of sending migrants abroad, but not receiving, and this is what has changed over the past years.
We have to create legal channels for migrants –those that the European economy needs- and complement our efforts to fully activate the existing EU workforce. Economic migration is not and should not be irregular. Providing protection to those in need is our moral and legal obligation. The challenges of migration will continue to shape the future of Europe.
At the same time, mobility is a basic element of our times. We cannot stop it, but we can manage it more efficiently. For this reason we have proposed to enhance and protect Schengen, which allows to more than 400 million people to move across Europe freely. I belong to a generation which has experienced in the past having their passport stamped-and when I was coming back, I had to replace it-and long queues at the passport controls, and even uncertainty when crossing European borders.
We should preserve and defend Schengen. Schengen is the greatest and more tangible achievement of European integration. Young people, who are in the audience today, have never lived, what I have lived as member of the previous generation. So, it is our duty to uphold and defend Schengen. Schengen is at stake, because of the migration and refugee crisis. We have gone through difficult times, because some Member States believe that they should re-introduce border controls, while migration is their main concern.
Schengen however continues to exist. I will not hide behind empty words: if Schengen collapses, it will be the beginning of the end for the European Union as we know it today. Some also used the successive terrorist attacks to justify insularity and closed borders. But you cannot fight ideas with borders, walls and barbed wire. Most of the attacks in Europe were committed by homegrown citizens, born and raised in our societies. People that bought into poisonous propaganda and took up arms against their fellow citizens. European citizens that were radicalised overnight into “do-it-yourself terrorism”. It is these ideas that we fight, while depriving terrorists the space, means and resources to commit their hateful acts.
I have been trying over the past years to convince Member States to cooperate, exchange information, to deepen trust among them. I want to be frank and clear with you: unfortunately, the deep state still resists in Europe. This is why, in front of this problem, two-and-a-half years ago, with President Juncker, we put forward the bold idea of a Security Union in Europe.
When I took office, at a doorstep in Brussels, I said that the European intelligence services should work close to each other and, why not, set up a European CIA. Some countries accepted it, some others didn’t, because, as I said, the deep state reacted. I will not mention these countries now, because they have changed their ideas, unfortunately, following what they have experienced with these horrendous terrorist attacks. But it was late.
A Union of trust and cooperation across borders, where the security of one Member State, is the security of all Member States. I want you to know that, if Security Agencies of European Member States had started cooperation earlier, the ones who perpetrated the terrorist attacks in Paris, would had been intercepted and arrested before they arrived there. They managed across three Member States of the EU and three Balkan states, arrived in Brussels, set up their headquarters and committed this terrorist attack. So, we need cooperation, sharing information and intelligence.
Where one Member State’s information is not jealously guarded in national silos. But where it is shared and used to the maximum to prevent developing threats across the European Union and in our wider neighbourhood. I was yesterday in Belgrade, in a conference for Cybersecurity and this is the message I sent to all the leaders of the so-called Western Balkans region: Start cooperating with us. Exchange information, get rid of all these rivalries of the past and do allow Balkans to get “re-balkanised”, by opening the door to nationalism and populism. I am afraid, we have to work hard over there. And I said this in Athens, because, what I just told you, is happening just across the Greek borders.
This is how we are working now: to enhance the cooperation among police authorities and intelligence services, to improve our information systems and their interoperability, to create and take advantage of tools to prevent terrorists’ movements, their access to means and material for terrorist attacks, and to stop them from spreading terrorist propaganda on the Internet. And it is exactly the internet, ladies and gentlemen, that is the most important battleground against terrorism. Because, DAESH was defeated on the ground, but not in the internet.
That is where we need to eliminate the presence of terrorism first, to deprive it of the echo-chamber it needs to recruit, to radicalise and to glorify in atrocities. This was exactly our objective in 2015, when I founded the EU Internet Forum with all the major internet players, in a voluntary partnership based on trust and cooperation. And I can tell you that all these big platforms, such as Facebook, Google, Twitter, cooperated with us. And we have seen the first tangible results of the cooperation, based on trust. Now, we take this work one step further, with strong rules to ensure that all internet companies cooperate against terrorism – and not only the ones that joined EU Internet Forum. Some months ago, in a very special meeting, President Macron, Prime Minister Theresa May and myself decided to set up a Global Internet Forum, having only one objective: to fight terrorism across the world. And it works.
Some people are concerned because the feel that national competences are being transferred to “Brussels”. I want to be clear: Europe is not something abstract. It is easy, and at the same time irresponsible and populistic, to always criticize the EU institutions. Europe consists of all of us, governments, politicians, academia, citizens, political parties, companies, media. The success of the European endeavour depends on the common responsibility.
To be strong, we have to stay united. This is the essence of our Union, to become better, together. We cannot take for granted what we have achieved so far. The best choice is to move forward together, all the 27 Member States of the EU. Splitting or moving towards different directions is not an option and it will prove itself disastrous in the future. Because, Europe is faced up with one more challenge, one more threat. To revert to its recent dark past. Of course, we cannot become overnight a Federal Europe. We can, nevertheless, have federal-type functions in migration and security, in defence, in economy and our external policy, something that does not exist today.
This approach will always be in line with the basic principles of the Treaties:
our common values and obligation for solidarity between the Member States and the citizens. In this very existential moment, there is only one way ahead: moving Europe forward. Deepening our cooperation, consolidating out European institutions and start fostering the European consciousness among our citizens. The only way to move forward is to support and further enhance European integration.
As far as our country is concerned, Europe was a catalyst to implement significant and structural reforms. The last 35 years, Greece has managed to achieve very significant progress thanks to the support of the Union. Nevertheless, we should not overlook our responsibility to make Greece a modern European state, and we have to do it all together. I don’t know if the economists agree with me, but the real source of the economic crisis in Greece was not its real economy, but its anachronistic function of this state that we have to change and restore. This is a responsibility that all Greek citizens share, beyond political parties and personal opinions.
This responsibility remains crucial and probably explains why this genuine European Member State, a historic and cultural fundament of Europe, still tries to get out of the crisis. However, getting out of the crisis can only be done through the European way, which is the only that can guarantee a better future for our country and ensure more security, stability, deepening of our democratic institutions and peace for our country and for the region.
Greece, as a Member of the European Union, is called to make good use of its historic and geopolitical position, its political and cultural bonds with the European family and its neighbouring nations, playing a responsible role as a geopolitical pillar of stability. Greece is called to undertake this global approach to its relation and position in Europe, by contributing to the overall collective effort to enhance and complete the European endeavour.
The European family has always managed to get out of its internal crises stronger, because it always solved its problems through dialogue and compromise, in a spirit of unity and solidarity. This is the essence of the European endeavour, this is what our democratic values stand for.
The future generations will judge us harshly, if we allow to return to the dark past, at times of division, nationalism, closed borders and possibly wars. It is our duty toward the future generations, to empower Europe and keep alive the European vision. Most of the challenges we are confronted with today are
common and do not stop at borders. Only if we work together we can protect and secure the interests of our countries and our citizens. The future of Europe emerges from its past and history, which has proven that the only way forward is a stronger European Union.
Dear friends,
As I said, we are at a crossroads. It is a moment of responsibility for all of us. We shouldn’t take for granted what has been inherited to us by the previous generations. Maybe, we have not realised that we are the privileged generation of mankind’s history. We are the only ones, who have not lived a war. Others did so. We cannot allow to go back to these dark moments. Marx said-and I am not a Marxist-that history repeats itself. He is wrong. People repeat history, because they don’t read it and draw lessons from it.
Thank you.