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- Ελληνικά
A signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding on the management of migration between the Republic of Cyprus and the European Commission was held today at the Presidential Palace, after which the Vice-President of the European Commission for the Promotion of the European Way of Life, Mr. Mr Margaritis Schinas, the Minister of Interior Mr Nikos Nouris and the Commissioner for Home Affairs Ms Ylva Johansson made statements (see. announcement).
Asked by a journalist how the three pillars of the Memorandum of Understanding will be implemented in practice, the Vice-President of the European Commission replied that the ambition in Brussels is at some point "to stop working with the logic of fire-fighting and start working with the logic of architecture". That is to have a single regulatory framework through which we can have all the tools and all the answers without having to act in conditions of crisis and pressure, he explained.
He noted that this has not yet been achieved, but "we have the proposals for the new Pact on Immigration and Asylum on the table, which in the post-pandemic era I believe that the face-to-face contacts between Ministers will accelerate developments."
He added that this has not yet been achieved, but "we have the proposals for the new Pact on Immigration and Asylum on the table, which in the post-pandemic era I believe that the face-to-face contacts between Ministers will accelerate developments.
He added that the French Presidency and President Macron are committed to accelerating these discussions and "I aspire for Cyprus to be a leading player in this great European agreement."
He said that on a practical level, we have to deal with the starting points of the flows.
He noted that we know where these points are. In the past, he said, we had found an area of understanding with Turkey and other countries of origin that allowed us to deal with these phenomena. He expressed confidence that this positive disposition of Turkey and Turkish airlines to contribute to a partnership would be repeated. He informed that he would be in Istanbul at the beginning of March and that he would have an important field of contacts on this issue.
He then mentioned that the second practical issue is the green line. "No one can understand the green line if they don't go there," he said, saying that it is a vast border, which is not a border, we are talking about land, fields, crossings.
He noted that there must be a combination of technological and other means there, which are already underway and will allow monitoring and tightening of the crossing procedures.
Extremely important, he noted, regarding returns, is that Cyprus has already successfully launched a wave of returns. "It should be more widely known that you are doing it successfully and you are to be congratulated for this dynamic start."
"Now, with the help of both Frontex and ours, these returns should be strengthened," he noted, adding that there will be no migration policy in the EU without a very convincing framework for returns.
He added that migrants who have no reason to be under EU asylum protection should be returned to their countries of origin.
He concluded by saying that there are no magic solutions to migration, but it takes a lot of hard work, multi-factorial and "we absolutely know what needs to be done and we will do it."
In response to the same question, Interior Minister M. Nikos Nouris said that the Republic of Cyprus has structured and upgraded its immigration policy.
He noted that the Republic of Cyprus has the tools and this is proven by its performance, noting that in the year 2021 the number of asylum applications handled was three or four times higher.
Through the x-ray of the problem, we now clearly know the root cause of the problem and it goes by the name of Turkey, the Minister said.
"Since we know where they come from and what our possibilities are, since there is no cooperation with Turkey, we are focusing our interest and our requests to the European Commission on very specific issues," he said. He noted that there are no magic recipes, saying it is something "we have seen in Lithuania, Poland, Estonia and other countries." "The necessity of having physical barriers works and is a deterrent to crossings," he said."
Technology is the second issue and surveillance is the third, the minister said, adding that all of these constitute the way in which we will move forward on the green line issue.
On the issue of returns, we are asking the European Commission to conclude agreements with a number of third countries that do not cooperate, he said, adding that this is a request from all 27 member states.
If there are no outflows, we will have a huge problem, especially in a country like Cyprus, which is not part of the Schengen area and which is blocked by the sea, he noted.
He concluded by saying that what happens at Europe's external borders should also happen at the Green Line, while on the issue of returns he stressed that the emphasis should be on the Republic of Cyprus, which faces the biggest problem.
Asked whether it is realistic to convince Turkey to stop the migratory flows, Mr. Schinas replied that "all countries of origin and transit, and especially the immediate neighbours, should know that they have a lot to gain by working with us on migration management and they have everything to lose by working against Europe."
He referred to the crisis in Evros on Clean Monday 2020, where it was a point when this message became erga omnes, as he said. "From that moment on, everyone understood that Europe is too big to be threatened and subject to blackmail."
"I am relatively optimistic, but nothing is a given. In the broader context where the neighbours understand the value of cooperation, we will make every effort to achieve our negotiating objectives."
(EFYs)
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