The deal achieved between the European Union and Turkey was a diplomatic success for Greece in collaboration with Cyprus, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Friday after the European Council meeting on the migration crisis. He warned, however, that it was a “difficult agreement” to implement and that a condition for its success will be a reduction in refugee flows, as seen in recent days.
“We achieved the best that we could achieve with respect to the refugee issue and must now work hard to cope with this difficult crisis we are facing,” Tsipras told reporters in a press conference after the summit. He noted that Greece and Cyprus had successfully fended off the Turkish side’s “unreasonable demands” with respect to the Cyprus issue and managed to have the five chapters blocked by Cyprus and one chapter blocked by Greece “taken off” the table in the talks.
This was done without fanfare but on the basis of a specific plan, he added, while noting that Greece’s agreements with Turkey will be compatible with international and European law.
Common approach
He also hailed the EU’s success in achieving a common approach to the refugee crisis that was humanitarian and concerned the EU in its entirety.
The Greek prime minister stressed that there could be no solution to the refugee crisis that did not involve an agreement with Turkey, noting that the plan that many had thought abandoned a few days earlier was now a common EU decision, while unilateral decisions were “put on ice”.
Tsipras said that Greece will receive European support in terms of both personnel and resources, with 2,300 asylum and security experts and interpreters expected in Greece to assist in managing the refugees and migrants.
“We sought and achieved an agreement for immediate assistance in infrastructure, with reinforcements for the asylum service staff,” Tsipras said, noting that the reinforcements will be arriving within the next few days.
The Cypriot Government
The final deal with Turkey on the migration crisis is fully in line with the objectives of the Cypriot Government and Turkey`s accession process remains firmly anchored to the existing negotiating framework and the Ankara protocol, according to President Nikos Anastasiades who expressed his satisfaction with the results.
“First and foremost, I would like to express my full satisfaction with the outcome of today’s very crucial Summit”, stated President Nikos Anastasiades, after the conclusion of the European Summit in Brussels.
“From the outset Cyprus had a very clear position. While we fully understand the need to effectively address this unprecedented migration crisis, including cooperation with Turkey, it must be crystal clear that the migration crisis and the accession negotiations are two distinct processes”, underlined the President, reiterating that “the opening of the chapters in Turkey’s accession negotiations – both the chapters frozen unanimously by the EU in 2006 and the chapters frozen unilaterally by Cyprus in 2009 – depends solely on Turkey fulfilling its obligations, as outlined in Turkey’s Negotiating Framework, including the implementation of the Additional Protocol towards the Republic of Cyprus”.
Finally, the President underlined that Cyprus has been and will continue to be a steadfast supporter of Turkey’s accession path to the EU, on the condition that Turkey fulfills its obligations.
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