Athens – Greek Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras, says his country cannot carry migrant burden on its own.
He said in Athens on Thursday that unilateral actions by European Union member states to deal with the migrant crisis troubling the bloc is hurting solidarity and must stop.
Tsipras said Greece was demanding that all countries must respect the European treaty and realise that there would be heavy sanctions for those that do not comply.
He urged that all unilateral actions must stop in Europe.
[pro_ad_display_adzone id=”70560″]
Tsipras said Greece would continue to do whatever it can to ensure no migrant or refugee is left helpless but cannot bear the burden by itself.
“We will not allow Greece or any other country to be turned into a warehouse of souls; we are at a crucial moment for the future of Europe.
“We will make every effort to apply the Schenghen Treaty and the Geneva Convention.
“We will not push back people in the sea, risking the lives of children”, he said.
EU officials said on condition of anonymity that Europeans, and particularly the German Government, are looking for Turkey to reduce the number of migrant arrivals in Greece to below 1,000.
They noted that EU Council President, Donald Tusk, would be stressing in Athens and Ankara on Thursday, that the EU goal was to eliminate entirely the transit of migrants from Turkey to Greece.
He would also convince the meeting that Europeans believed Turkey should be able to bring the numbers down to the “low triple digits” very soon.
“If there were to be a target figure, it would be zero.’’
The official noted that 1,000 people a day would mean an unsustainable 350,000 people a year arriving in Greece. (Reuters/NAN)