New Democracy (ND) leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis had a series of meetings starting this week in Brussels on the migration-refugee issue and the economy. Mitsotakis was in Brussels to attend the European People’s Party meeting held on Thursday.
On the sidelines of the EEP’s meeting, Mitsotakis had bilateral meetings with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borisov and former Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy as well as with former Portuguese prime minister Pedro Passos Coehlo.
Moreover, he met with European parliament president Martin Schulz, European Commissioner for Transport Violeta Bulc, the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, European Commissioner for Migration Dimitris Avramopoulos, the president of the Liberals and Democrats Alliance Guy Verhofstadt, European Commissioner for Monetary Affairs Pierre Moscovici, European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis, European Commissioner for Competitiveness Jyrki Kaitanen and European Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Cretu.
On Thursday ND leader also met with the president of the European Popular Party Joseph Daul, European Commissioner for Competitiveness Marghrete Vestager and the president of the European People’s Party parliamentary spokesman Manfred Weber.
Meeting with Merkel
In the first meeting between New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis and German Chancellor Angela Markel on the sidelines of a meeting of the European Popular Party, the main issues discussed were the refugee crisis and Greece’s domestic developments.
Mitsotakis discussed with Merkel his view on the refugee crisis, with the German Chancellor noting she agrees with the Greek stance that borders must not close. An associate of Mitsotakis said that the two countries’ interests on the refugee crisis converge.
During the EPP meeting, the leader of ND clashed verbally with Austrian Vice Chancellor Reinhold Mitterlehner who insisted that the only way to halt refugee flows is to close Greece’s northern borders. Mitsotakis responded that this is not a solution in any way, noting that if these borders close, refugees will simply find a new route into Europe. “Greece’s borders are European borders. You cannot transfer Europe’s borderline – which is now at the Aegean – to FYROM,” he said at the meeting.
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