Brussels, 28/01/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 27 January, the Greek government gave a heated response to the “media isolation” the country has been suffering with regard to managing the refugee crisis and the country repeated that it was doing all that was in its power to meet its obligations.
The same day, the European Commission confirmed that it had begun an assessment that could lead, as a last resort, to the return of national border controls within the Schengen area for a maximum of two years (Articles 19 and 26 of the Schengen Border Code) (see EUROPE 11477).
In a statement, the Greek government emphasised that the Commission's evaluation mission underpinning the assessment report, took place in the middle of November in the country and that the conditions then were very different to what they are today.
On Thursday 28 January, the Commission admitted that the assessment report unveiled the previous day by Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis, would effectively take into account the measures implemented in Greece since last November. The Commission's spokesperson, Natasha Bertaud, explained that “all the efforts taken in the meantime will obviously be taken into account”. Once this report is finalised, it will be submitted for adoption by the Ministers of the Interior. Its adoption will depend on whether Article 19 and possibly Article 26 of the Schengen Border Code are activated or not.
According to the spokesperson of the Greek government, Olga Gerovasili, the most appropriate action for managing migratory flows essentially depends on Turkey and its respect for the action plan agreed by the EU and Turkey in November (see EUROPE 11440). She pointed out that “the EU/Turkey agreement, however, is not moving forward… And no one in Greece is responsible for this”.
Greece has repeatedly requested an increase in human resources and logistics from the EU external border agency, Frontex, added the spokesperson, for which the requests to these demands have been incomplete. She emphasised that the relocation programme for the 160,000 asylum seekers was not functioning because only “414 people had been relocated”. Moreover, despite the international agreements, the readmission of illegal migrants by the countries of the region, including Turkey, had demonstrated that the results were “close to zero”, explained Gerovasili. She concluded: “Greece is doing all it can and has surpassed its obligations. We are waiting for the rest of the world to do likewise”.
On Monday 25 January in Amsterdam, in a backdrop to the informal European Ministers of the Interior meeting, the two Greek ministers responsible for this subject, called on their partners to assume their responsibilities and stop denigrating Greece (see EUROPE 11475). (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)