The European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, Mr. Dimitris Avramopoulos, met today with the Greek Prime Minister, Mr. Alexis Tsipras, in the context of his meetings on the recent developments on migration and security.
The Commissioner referred to his contacts during his visit to New York for the UN General Assembly and to the Commission’s recent proposals on Migration and Schengen.
After the meeting, Commissioner Avramopoulos made the following statement:
“The situation in Greece has clearly improved over the last two years thanks to the coordinated efforts of the Commission, Member States and, of course, the Greek authorities. But we must remain vigilant.
Migrant reception conditions must always have high standards. Winter is coming and all migrants should be hosted in winter-protected settlements in time. The decongestion of the islands will contribute to this end, and the procedures for implementing the EU-Turkey Declaration on the islands should also be speeded up in order to break the business model of smugglers, who continue to exploit human lives.
Yesterday, I also called on all Member States to continue showing solidarity towards Greece and Italy. The Commission will continue to support relocation both financially and operationally. We will continue to regularly report on the pace of progress.
Finally, it is time for the Council to come to an agreement on my proposal for the revision of the Dublin Regulation. The reform of the Common European Asylum System is the only solution for a fair, efficient and future crisis-proof system.
Therefore, building on our common efforts, we must move from the crisis mode to a regular management of migration. The Commission will continue to support Greece in every possible way.”