Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis expressed his concern about the bilateral agreement between Italy and Albania on dealing with the issue of migration, and specifically the asylum part, in an interview with the Financial Times.
The Greek PM, who is in Brussels for the EU-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit, wondered whether the plan could be used as a blueprint for the EU, mentioning it would have to be tested in practice first.
“These people are being processed according to Italian asylum law, and whatever happens to them, one way or another, they will be returned to Italy. If we did this at a European level… where would they go?” he pondered.
Mitsotakis also urged the EU to increase legal migration alongside efforts to limit irregular entries, highlighting the significant need for both skilled and unskilled workers in Europe’s economy.
The Greek Prime Minister went on to explain: “If you want to build a big fence, you also need a big door,” emphasizing the labor shortage in Greece. “Who will pick our olives? We are a shrinking continent, and we all recognize that to maintain our productivity, we will need labor, whether unskilled or skilled.”
Mitsotakis also emphasized Greece’s success in rescuing thousands of people at sea, adding, however, that Greece planned to make it more difficult for people to enter.”
The FT points out that “the Greek leader, who has been in power since 2019 and is a political ally of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, called on Brussels to double efforts to increase the number of migrants being deported, which currently stands at 20%.”
