Foreign policy and immigration were discussed by the Deputy Minister of Immigration and Asylum, Sofia Voultepsi, and the SYRIZA – P.S. Member of State, retired Navy admiral and honorary head of GEETHA, Evangelos Apostolakis, in the context of the 12th Regional Development Conference, which is held in Patras.

Taking the floor, Mrs. Vultepsi referred to the conflicts taking place around Greece, stressing that “we must be on guard, as we do not know when the next wave of refugees will be”.

He added that Cyprus is currently the most vulnerable country in the EU. in terms of migration flows.

In addition, the Deputy Minister of Immigration and Asylum also referred to climate change, stressing that in addition to wars, “the climate also forces people to move from country to country”. In fact, he predicted that 1.2 billion people will migrate in the next 30 years due to climate crisis.

In turn, Mr. Apostolakis referred to the images he saw on his recent trip with Stefanos Kasselakis to Ramallah, stressing that: “The situation is dramatic. We have over 35,000 dead. Children, women and wounded without infrastructure. They have nothing, there is nothing left.” He criticized the European Union, saying that it “must be stronger in its decisions, make a greater effort for peace in the war zones”.

At the same time, he stated that the biggest issue for National Security is the state of the armed forces, which, as he said, must be at the maximum level of readiness. Finally, with regard to foreign policy, he added that it must be based on alliances, be multidimensional and have cross-party consensus.