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- Ελληνικά
Interministerial meeting with the Vice President of the European Commission
Small Cyprus is emerging as a European champion of returns with very important successes, said the Vice President of the European Commission, Mr. Margaritis Schinas during his statements after an inter-ministerial meeting with the Ministers of Interior Mr. Konstantinos Ioannou, Education, Sports and Youth Dr. Athena Michailidou, Justice and Public Order Mr. Marios Hartziotis and Health Mr. Michalis Damianos and the Deputy Ministers of Social Welfare Ms. Marilena Evangellou and Culture Dr. Dr. Michalis Damiyanos. During the meeting, there was an extensive discussion on the migration issue, with emphasis on the issue of the reassessment of Syria and the implementation of the Action Plan for the Eastern Mediterranean. The issues of integration and integration of migrants were also discussed and the competent ministers presented the actions taken by the government in this direction.
In statements after the meeting, the Interior Minister referred to the very constructive meeting, noting that today is the second visit of Mr. Schinas to Cyprus in the last year. This, he said, "demonstrates his special interest in Cyprus and the Government's efforts to deal effectively with the migration issue". This support, he continued, was also expressed during the period of the preparation of the Action Plan for the Eastern Mediterranean, in which the positions of the Republic were incorporated, following the personal effort and intervention of Mr. Schinas.
EU support to Lebanon announced by the Vice President of the European Commission - Important development, says Cyprus' Interior Minister
After the very successful initiative with Egypt, which followed the one with Tunisia, said Mr. Schinas, "the next appointment, the next challenge, is a similar approach of the European Union towards Lebanon". Such an agreement would have very positive consequences for Cyprus, he added, underlining that "the political will is there and given to move in this direction. But even there, in order to do so, we need to consolidate the parameters of such an agreement. These agreements are not something that just happen in the air. They need very strong groundwork. We have been working with Egypt for a long time, but I think that it is absolutely realistic to move in a similar way towards Lebanon."
For his part, commenting on the statement of the Vice President of the European Commission, the Interior Minister described the willingness and the intention to move forward at the European level to such an agreement as very important. "After the very successful agreement with Egypt, now, he said, the Commission is now focusing on Lebanon. There is a lot of data to be assessed. But at least at least the process has started and this is what we were also asking for, to have more support to Lebanon, because more practical support to Lebanon will only have positive results for Cyprus, but also for the rest of the European Union, on issues of irregular migrants arriving through the sea routes."
Margaritis Schinas. "Here everything is more demanding, more complex, more difficult", he noted, assuring that the European support to the Republic of Cyprus for the management of migration "has been, is and will remain non-negotiable.
As a result of this support, but also as a result of the very serious work that is being done here in Cyprus under the responsibility of the Minister, I think that we can say, always with caution of course and avoiding triumphalism, that the bottom of the barrel has been put into the migration issue. In other words, the management of migration is being put on a firmer footing. We have a lot of successes, which must be said in substance."
Schinas referred to the big problem that existed a few years ago, due to the arrivals through the Green Line, which has been largely addressed. "We put a lot of pressure on both the airlines and all those involved in these phenomena. In this room I remember we signed an action plan with the Republic of Cyprus. It was followed by the Plan that we worked out precisely to protect the Republic of Cyprus. We have funded over EUR 250 million for expenditure on reception centres, on borders and on all migration-related aspects. In the coming weeks the College of Commissioners will decide and will disburse another 50 million to Cyprus. To this end, we are working with the competent services for better reception conditions, especially for unaccompanied minors", explained Mr Schinas.
Continuing to praise the Government of Cyprus, the Vice-President of the European Commission stated that "small Cyprus is emerging as a European return champion with very important successes, 60% more returns. I think that is a number that says it all". He stressed, however, that despite its importance, this fact is not a reason for complacency. He explained that "there is never any room for complacency on migration and even our new successes, the broader ones, with the adoption of the new Pact on Immigration and Asylum, which will change the overall management model for migration and asylum in Europe, is not in itself enough to solve the problems here that we need to address".
Reassessing the status of Syria is a complex process
Speaking about the initiative of the Republic of Cyprus to review the status of Syria, Schinas noted that this is a process that has started and is ongoing, with the responsibility being, at this stage, with the European Asylum Agency, which is reviewing third countries as a whole, based on the contributions of Member States. "Cyprus therefore has the opportunity to formulate its policy priorities within this process. It is a complex process. I don't want to bring easy solutions, but it is certainly a process that exists, through which I think we can continue to work in the direction that Cyprus would like to see," he said. Schinas explained that this process is done through the European Asylum Agency, which has the direct perception and responsibility to examine and assess the situation in the country and decide to declare it a safe country. He reiterated that it is a complex process, noting that Syria to a large extent continues to be a war zone. The Republic of Cyprus is part of this process. It has the opportunity to express its views, which are of great importance. Because it is Cyprus at the end of the day that is under pressure and it is Cyprus that is closest and knows exactly what is happening there. I don't want to say today that this will end anyway," Schinas stressed.
In response to a question on the support of the other member states for the Cypriot initiative on Syria, the Interior Minister said that some countries expressed some concerns about the longer time needed to assess the situation on the ground. This is, Ioannou said, a very important decision to declassify a country as safe. "As the Vice President said, it is an ongoing process. At the Home Affairs Council last week we expressed our positions. It has started the discussion, so it's not where it's going to be the next day. It takes time. We are working on it and we hope for a positive outcome."
The EU stands firmly against the instrumentalisation of migration
Asked whether Turkey's instrumentalisation of migration is something that is taken seriously by the EU, Mr. Schinas, referring to past incidents (Evros, events at the Belarusian border with Poland and Lithuania, Spain, etc.), stressed that Europe stood firmly against this new model of hybrid threat. "We reacted directly on the ground, both at the political level with the massive presence of the leadership of the European Commission, to the problem. We did not sit in our offices in Brussels. With major mobilisations of Frontex, where it was needed, with exceptions to the legal framework that helped member countries to cope with the specific crisis conditions," said Schinas.
He added, however, that "in Cyprus, I think we have not reached a point which, and I must say that in the new agreement that we have made on migration and asylum, we have for the first time explicitly provided for specific actions in the legislative work, in the legislative quiver of the Union, in case of crises, such as instrumentalisation. I am now saying that here in Cyprus we have reached a situation which legally could not be compared to the phenomena I have just mentioned. We did not have massive instrumentalisation, but we did have a very worrying flow through the Green Line, through an organised circuit starting in Africa, passing through Istanbul airport, touching the occupied territories and the so-called universities. It was a chain, which was pushing Cyprus through the Green Line. We worked very well, very coordinated, very focused and we managed to stop this chain."
We reacted, he said, at all levels of this chain and as can be seen from the result, Cyprus' migration problem today is no longer there, but "to the east, to Syria and the arrival of Syrians, the sea arrivals through Lebanon.
Commenting on the same issue, the Interior Minister stressed that with the implementation of the Action Plan for the Eastern Mediterranean we have had a substantial reduction in the flows through the occupied territories, "which in essence we can talk about solving the problem of flows through the occupied territories."
Commenting on the same issue, the Interior Minister stressed that with the implementation of the Action Plan for the Eastern Mediterranean we have had a substantial reduction in the flows through the occupied territories, "which in essence we can talk about solving the problem of flows through the occupied territories. We no longer have more than an 85% reduction in arrivals, where it was 95% (i.e. arrivals via the Green Line). You now realize that we can talk about solving the problem, which is happening after the personal intervention and actions of Mr. Schinas".
We are closely monitoring the situation in the Middle East, says Margaritis Schinas
Then, in response to a question whether the EU is conducting paper exercises in relation to possible measures to prevent an increase in migratory flows, in case of a generalised crisis in the Middle East, the Vice-President of the European Commission assured that from the very first moment the EU has been closely monitoring the situation and the impact that an extension of the conflict between Israel and Hamas could have on migration. "I have to say that all we are doing at the moment is showing us that there is no obvious movement of such populations towards Europe. We have Palestinians who are in asylum procedures on the Greek islands, but we have no new mass arrivals from the region. The problem we have is not linked to Gaza. It is more a problem on the Egyptian-Libyan border, where we have flows from Egypt to Libya and then from Libya to the European Union. It is a problem that we will address with the new historic European Union-Egypt agreement. But it is a side problem that is not directly linked to the events in Gaza. We are following the situation in the Middle East very closely. Yesterday, the European Council has decided to call for a ceasefire and we want to believe that the stabilisation of the situation will have a positive impact on the migration issue, but for the moment we have nothing special.
(MCI)
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