Migration and Asylum Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos on Monday received the German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser.
During the meeting, the two ministers exchanged views and discussed critical issues concerning migration and asylum management.
Panagiotopoulos underlined the excellent cooperation that has developed between Greece and Germany in the field of migration, pointing out the common understanding of the complex challenges that the two countries have to face. He also noted the decisive role of Greece as a frontline country, which is responsible for the protection of European borders and the management of primary migration flows, while he also referred to the challenges facing Germany, mainly due to secondary migration flows.
Faeser noted that the cooperation between Greece and Germany is at an extremely high level and emphasised that migration constitutes a common European challenge, which cannot be tackled piecemeal at the national level, but requires coordinated action and collective solutions within the framework of a single European strategy.
Referring to the issue of repatriations, the German Minister pointed out that there is a finding that the rates are not particularly high although, as she said, Greece is still doing quite well compared to many other countries. That is why, the European Commission has started to get involved, to intervene in the operational process. “That’s good. There are now agreements with some third countries. We have simplified the laws in Germany so that we can carry out repatriations more easily. We were also able to achieve 1/5 more repatriations this year. However, this is a single issue on which we are working together”, Faeser said.
She also praised Greece’s efforts, recognising its key role in the Mediterranean, both for the effective protection of European borders and for the detailed registration of illegally entering migrants. At the same time, she emphasised the importance of enhanced cooperation between the Mediterranean countries and the rest of the EU member states, with the aim of adopting an integrated and effective strategy to deal with the migration issue.
During the meeting, the two ministers exchanged views on regional developments, with particular emphasis on the Middle East and Syria. They also thoroughly discussed the importance of speeding up the return of migrants to third countries. Both sides pointed out that returns are an essential tool to effectively manage migration flows and decongest frontline countries such as Greece.
The discussion sealed the commitment of Greece and Germany to further strengthen their cooperation within a jointly coordinated European framework, emphasising both the management of migration flows and the acceleration of returns to third countries.
