Our interview. Saryusz-Wolski about the Greek actions on the border with Turkey: Once Orban was almost lynched and Poland was punished for it

If they are not allowed into the EU, and today it seems they will not, they will bounce back from that border. The question is whether there is any other diplomatic way to resolve this issue, but it also has to be said that the European Union has not fulfilled its obligations towards Turkey

— said Jacek Saryusz-Wolski, MEP, in an interview with the portal wPolityce.pl, referring to the migrants pressing on the Turkish-Greek border.

wPolityce.pl: Ankara threatens to send still „millions” of migrants to the EU border. Are we really dealing with refugees or a mass, organised resettlement action?

Jacek Saryusz-Wolski, MEP: Resettlement is too much to say. It is a migration stream. Anyway, as far as we know, those migrants who found themselves on the Greek-Turkish border are not the fresh migrants from that battle in Idlib, but those who have long been on Turkish territory. This is a migration wave and in some sense it can be said that Turkey is denouncing an agreement that it has made with the European Union in the past, that it will control the borders and stop the flow of migrants. This is the obvious termination of the agreement.

Does the European Union have the tools to effectively stop the influx of immigrants into Europe, given that it is itself divided regarding these issues?

If it pursues what Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis has declared and what they probably intend to support today: Michel, von der Leyen, Sassoli and Lenarczicz, the heads of all four EU institutions, then yes, because experience shows: if there is a strong border guard and the army, then the border can be protected. It is not easy, especially if the border is geographically extended; it is also difficult if it is a maritime border, but it is feasible. Such determination is communicated by Prime Minister Mitsotakis. He demands a meeting of foreign ministers. He recalls an article that speaks of emergency situations. If the number of third country nationals coming to the border exceeds their capacity to cope with it, they can demand support from the Union.

How could this end up for the EU?

**If they are not allowed into the EU, and today it looks like they are not, they will bounce back from that border. The question is whether there is another diplomatic way to resolve this issue, but it must also be said that the European Union has not fulfilled its obligations towards Turkey. First three and now four million migrants have arrived in Turkey. The EU promised 6 billion euros, of which only 3.2 or 3.4 billion euros have effectively flown, and until then there were no signs that it intends to continue to provide financial assistance to Turkey to cope with this surge. Turkey is also partly right in saying that the EU has not fulfilled its commitments.

Only that it could have used diplomatic means, all the more so because there were ideas about Turkey’s accession to the EU and in this situation nobody will possibly think about it anymore…

The issue of Turkey’s accession remains formally on the agenda, and politically it has long been off the agenda and beyond any realistic expectation and that has nothing to do with it either. It is important that Turkey is a front country. It has received millions of migrants and, counting on EU support has been holding them back until now. The situation is also much more complex. The Turks claim that they are unable to cope with it, that they have spent 40 billion euros on receiving migrants, and I recall 6 billion that the Union promised, of which only half was actually paid. The situation is also complicated on both sides.

Of course, what the Greek government is doing this time by implementing European law, as Orban used to do, is right. European law says that the country guarding the external borders of the EU is obliged to control this border. It does that, only that Orban was once almost lynched, and Poland was punished - both countries that had such a stance. Total hypocrisy and double standard. Today it is said that Mitsotakis did exactly the same, that he is right.

Thank you for the interview.

The interview was made by Anna Wiejak

Tłum. K.J.