Tsipras: Tusk’s proposal on refugee quotas is ‘unfortunate, untimely and unnecessary’
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
The proposal by European Council President Donald Tusk to scrap mandatory quotas on relocating asylum seekers across the European Union is “unfortunate, untimely and unnecessary”, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said in an interview with state TV channel ERT3, broadcasted on Wednesday.
He added that Greece will not accept any changes in the current agreement and that the proposal “has little chance of being adopted” by EU leaders at a summit in Brussels.
Tsipras said that the country has suffered doubly over the past few years by the EU’s mistakes and weaknesses, citing outgoing Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem who claimed that the first and second bailout programs aimed at saving European banks and not the Greek economy.
He also said that in 2015, Greece was faced with the largest migration wave since World War II. On Tuesday, EU migration commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos slammed Tusk’s proposal, saying it is “unacceptable” and “anti-European”.
Asked about the country’s exit from the bailout program in 2018, he said he “will be the first to take the country out of the memorandums in which others have put us.”
“Today, the keys to the state budget safe do not belong to the Greek government, they are held by our lenders. We will take those keys after August 2018 and that will be a landmark moment for the country,” he said.
He defended the government’s work, saying it has succeeded where the governments of former prime ministers George Papandreou and Antonis Samaras failed.
Tsipras also said he wants the next elections in September 2019 to be about Greece’s future and for his government to be judged by its results.
Tsipras in Brussels on Thursday to attend European Council
Tsipras is scheduled to attend the European Council in Brussels on December 14-15, arriving in the Belgian capital on Thursday.
Tsipras’s programme will begin with his participation in the Party of European Socialists preparatory summit at noon. At 14:30, the Greek premier is to meet European Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn before attending the European leaders’ first roundtable at 15:00, focusing on European defence and social issues.
At 19:00, Tsipras will attend a working dinner that will discuss migration, EU-Turkey relations, Ukraine and Jerusalem.
The European Council will continue with a working breakfast at 9:00, focusing on reforms in the euro area, while at 10:30 the Greek prime minister will attend a meeting on EU-Turkey relations and the refugee issue with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov.
At 11:00 on Friday he is to take part in a European Council discussion on the Brexit negotiations.
ANA-MPA