Mitsotakis at CNN: The solution to immigration is not to unilaterally violate the Schengen Treaty

An interview on the CNN television network was given by the Prime Minister, a short time after the meeting with . Kyriakos Mitsotakis also spoke about the Middle East, fires in Greece and climate change, but also about immigration, where he left spikes against Germany. For the meeting with Recep Tayyip Erdogan he stressed that it was their 6th meeting last year and this is a “terrible progress” in the bilateral relationship of the two countries. “It is therefore very important that we have open channels of communication and, of course, on the issues we disagree with, for example, the definition of sea zones, to do so in a specific way, namely that issues can be resolved under international law, but also to cooperate on issues such as migration and we have made progress in dealing with problems,” he said. “We want the boats to stop before entering our own territorial waters. We have made progress over the last year, because immigration is a terrible issue and we do not want to leave it in the hands of the traffickers,” he said and noted that “we need both a fence and a large door open. It is important that the EU defend its external borders.” He recalled that “Greece was the one who received hundreds of women from Afghanistan when the country was on the brink of collapse. We want to send a message that we can host workers in Greece without taking a dangerous journey until they reach Greece.” “The solution is not to unilaterally violate the Schengen Treaty,” he said with meaning by commenting on the German government’s attitude to tackling immigration. Asked about the recent shipwreck in Samos and the articles of the foreign press, talking about the re-promotion of refugees and migrants from the Greek coast guard, Kyriakos Mitsotakis stressed that “there was no involvement of the Greek coastguard”. “If anyone wants to break the rules in bad weather… At the same time, we reserve the right to intercept boats in sea waters, not in open sea. We don’t want any boat at sea. We do not want life losses and for dealers to determine who will make the trip and who will not,” the prime minister said. “We made it clear in Israel that there were opportunities for ceasefire in Gaza” For the Middle East, Kyriakos Mitsotakis said that “we made it clear to our Israeli friends, that there were opportunities to cease fire that did not take sufficient advantage of them. It is in the interest of Israel to cease fire. We do not want to overestimate our strength, but we are friends with Israel and friends must speak openly.” For the fact that even the U.S. failed to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza he stressed that “Biden’s term is over and is an opportunity to do everything it can to stop the fire. The consequences are many, even economical,” he stressed referring to the attack of the Huthi on a Greek-owned ship. “We lost fewer forests than other years” For fires and climate change he pointed out that “the Mediterranean is a conestra of climate change. We must invest much more in adapting to identify the major fires. We did well, except for a big fire. We lost fewer forests than other years. We’re focusing on the green deal. We must do much more as Europe.” “Important for the global heritage to return the Parthenon Sculptures” For the Parthenon Sculptures, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, after correcting journalist Christian Amanpur who called them “marmara”, noted: “Let us agree that it is important for the global cultural heritage that these Sculptures be in Athens. If we cut Mona Lisa, will it be nice? We have discussions with the British Museum so that there will be an agreement on the reunification of the Sculpters. I think we have a very serious argument. We have waited 200 years and it is imperative for us.”