“To exercise a right that we cannot give to traffickers. Because that is exactly what we are doing today: traffickers are the ones who decide who enters the European Union. This has to change.” This was emphasized by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis after the end of the work of the EUMED9 Summit in Malta, which dealt, among other things, with the immigration problem in Europe.

Mr Mitsotakis also pointed out that Europe’s leaders “need to define on our own terms who enters the European Union”, while pointing out that the EU should focus on repatriations and ensure that people who are not entitled to asylum return in their country of origin. At the same time, the Prime Minister noted that Europe should, apart from all of this, focus on the legal routes for immigration.

Mr. Mitsotakis in his statement also referred to the climate crisis and the economy.

Regarding the economy in the EU, he said that we cannot repeat the mistakes of the past, and pointed out that “we know of mistakes that were made at the European level and essentially forced countries to make a very sharp fiscal adjustment, plunging them into a much deeper recession.”

He proposed a return to the framework of the European Commission’s original proposal, which he described as balanced in terms of increased flexibility but also ownership, so that member states could draw up their own fiscal “path” to achieve fiscal adjustment.

At the same time, he emphasized that space must be created for the critical investments that European countries need, in order to protect their strategic autonomy, whether it is for defense or for significant collective investments in the green transition.

On the climate crisis Mr. Mitsotakis said that it affects the Mediterranean in a disproportionately strong way and called on EU leaders to take joint action, and said that the crisis urges European countries to have a comprehensive cooperation on issues and prevention issues, “

“We must not, of course, forget that these disasters do not only affect our countries in Europe, but also the countries of the Southern Neighborhood. When a disaster hits a country that has significant problems in terms of the functioning of the state, the disaster multiplies. The same storm that killed less than 20 people in Greece resulted in the deaths of over 10,000 people in Libya.That’s the difference in what climate change does when it hits a well-organized country versus one that faces significant problems” said Mr. Mitsotakis.

His statement in detail Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis:

“Dear Robert (Abela), Thank you for your wonderful hospitality and the amazing location you have chosen for this gathering. I also thank you for the very comprehensive summary of the discussion we had, which was captured in the joint statement just agreed.

I do not want to repeat what has been said by previous speakers. Let me make three quick remarks: firstly, regarding the climate crisis, thank you all for the support you have given Greece during a very difficult summer, when we faced some of the worst fires and certainly the worst floods in its history our country. It should be obvious to all of us, I believe, that the climate crisis is affecting the Mediterranean disproportionately. This should not only be a cause for concern, but a reason for all of us to take immediate action.

Thank you all for agreeing to the content of the letter I sent you, which essentially urges us, at the European level, to put much more emphasis on adaptation and in particular on relief after natural disasters and on managing the very costly consequences of these disasters, as both we and our Slovenian friends know very well.

But it urges us to have more comprehensive cooperation on prevention issues and issues to ensure that there is a sensible balance between our ambitious, but long-term, mitigation agenda and our immediate adaptation needs. Because I believe that this is the only way to ensure that our people continue to participate in the green transition. As it is now clear to me that this is not a balanced approach, especially if we consider the European money available for immediate disaster relief.

We must not, of course, forget that these disasters do not only affect our countries in Europe, but also the countries of the Southern Neighbourhood. When a disaster strikes a country that has significant problems with the functioning of the state, the disaster multiplies. The same storm that killed less than 20 people in Greece resulted in the deaths of more than 10,000 people in Libya. That’s the difference in what climate change does when it hits a well-organized country versus a country in significant trouble.

On immigration, I could not agree more with what the Italian Prime Minister, Georgia Meloni, and the French President, Emmanuel Macron, said about focusing on the 10-point action plan drawn up by the President of the European Commission. I believe that we have made great progress at European level, recognizing the importance of the external dimension of the migration problem and, at the end of the day, the need to determine on our own terms who enters the European Union. As it is something that lies with us, as sovereign states but also as members of our European family, to exercise a right which we cannot delegate to traffickers. Because that is exactly what we are doing today: the traffickers are the ones who decide who enters the European Union. This has to change.

We need to be much more effective in ensuring that unseaworthy vessels do not sail off the coasts of neighboring countries and endanger human lives on a very dangerous journey. We need to cooperate more with transit countries, which we are trying to do, for example, with Turkey. We must focus on repatriations and ensure that people who are not entitled to asylum return to their country of origin. Finally, of course, we must focus on legal pathways for immigration. As we exercise greater vigilance to protect our borders, we must counterbalance it by offering opportunities to people who can come to the European Union and help us support our economic growth, but in a safe way and – I say it again – our own terms.

In closing, regarding the issues of economic governance, I will repeat that I agree with what has already been said. I will only make two brief observations. We cannot repeat the mistakes of the past. We know of mistakes that were made at the European level and essentially forced countries to make a very sharp fiscal adjustment, “plunging” them into a much deeper recession.

I believe that we need to return to the framework of the European Commission’s original proposal, which we believe was very balanced in terms of increased flexibility but also ownership, so that Member States can draw up their own fiscal “path” to achieve fiscal adjustment.

And, of course, we need to make room for the critical investments we need to protect our strategic autonomy, whether it’s defense or talking about significant collective investments in the green transition. Because otherwise we will find ourselves in a position where other countries or other large groups of states will make these investments, while we will be constrained by the fiscal rules we impose on ourselves at a time when we need to invest more.

Let me conclude my post with this. Thank you very much Robert, for the excellent hospitality. I wish Cyprus the best and look forward to my visit there for the 11th Summit of a cooperation scheme which I believe has proven very successful and constructive“.