Immigration is an issue that SYRIZA has never instrumentalizedin relation to other parties of our country, and we are proud of the responsible attitude we have taken” emphasized the president of SYRIZA – Progressive Alliance Stefanos Kasselakis during the meeting he had in his office in Koumoundourou with representatives of Albanian collectives and communities Diaspora in Greece.

As the president of SYRIZA pointed out “we are proud of the work we did as a government, to be able to facilitate the Community and to be able to show that we can all contribute to our country”.

However, as he underlined the issues facing the Albanian Community in our country they are large, with the result that the precariousness that its members live every day has increased in recent years.

“It is not possible to talk about renewing the residence for three years when the specific application takes 2.5 years to be accepted. In other words, we are putting these fellow human beings, with whom we live in the same country, in a hostage situation in essence” meaningfully underlined St. Kasselakis.

At the same time, as he explained, we should look at the relations between the two countries in different, more creative ways. In this context he cited as an example the issue of choosing a second foreign language. “Here in Greece we don’t have Albanian as a language of choice. Like Albania, it had to have Greek as the language of choice. Throughout the territory of Albania”.

Welcoming the members of the Albanian community, the president of SYRIZA emphasized that it is an honor to “host you in our party, the proud party of rights and equality” and emphasized the special symbolism of the day since it happens to be the anniversary of the murder of a child from Pakistan. By Shahjat Luqman, who lost his life “in a wave of racism, in a situation that is something we can avoid as a people, if there are correct integration policies”.

“We have historical ties with the Albanian Community,” emphasized the Immigration Policy Department of SYRIZA-PS, Nina Kasimati. “The tightening of these bonds, of our two peoples, can only make us stronger and more influential in the region and more widely in Europe”, he added.

Taking the floor, the Deputy Head of Immigration Policy of SYRIZA-PS, Giorgos Psychogios, recalled that it was the SYRIZA government, which in 2015 legislated the citizenship of second-generation immigrants and other interventions that had to do with access to insurance funds, with AMKA et al.. It was the first thing that the government abolished in 2019.

Our intention, he continued, is to make a law proposal, to make proposals, for to remove the unacceptable divisions which now exist with class characteristics of institutional racism. With the exorbitant fees and with all the unacceptable provisions that the ND legislated in the residence permits.

We had the honor today to hold a meeting, historic for the Albanian Community, with the president of SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance and the party’s MPs, said Etmond Guri, representative of the Albanian Diaspora in Greece (A.D.E).

We consider it important that SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance is the political body that, as it has shown in the past, could contribute to being equal citizens of the country, to join and not assimilate. As befits a Democracy”.