Tsipras: The Refugee Crisis Comes from ‘Geopolitical’ Interests in the West; It Requires a ‘Global and European Solution’

Speaking in Parliament, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras made some hard-hitting statements on the refugee crisis that are unique for a European head of government, because, unlike some other states, no fewer than 500,000 refugees have arrived on Greece’s shores and borders since January of this year. The statements were made in answer to questions by one of the opposition New Democracy party parliamentarians, whose swinish bias, was along the lines of, ‘what did Greece get in return?’

As the daily Protothema described, in the aftermath of two more refugee vessels foundering in the increasingly cold Aegean Thursday, and in the aftermath of an EU summit on Oct. 25 on the refugee crisis, Tsipras said, “The Aegean Sea does not only wash ashore bodies of children, but it washes ashore the EU culture.”“I feel ashamed by Europe’s inability to deal effectively with this drama” demonstrating Europe’s inability to defend its values. “The tears poured today are hypocritical, because it is not only the dead children who are washed ashore, it is also the children who are stacked on the road to exile…. What about the living people coming in tens of thousands as refugees? Nobody seems to like them.”

From his perspective of the left, Tsipras said “the European project was born when the Berlin Wall that separated the same people fell. And today this European dream dies when some countries are raising walls and barbed wire so refugees cannot pass through their borders.

“Our primary task is to limit the humanitarian tragedy,” he underlined, and to show solidarity towards people who left their country to build from nothing their lives destroyed by war and devastation. “Greeks know what it means to be a refugee. We remember the stories of our grandfathers and our grandmothers, what it meant to be in exile.” He said it is our duty to do everything in our power, even beyond our capabilities, to not allow the Aegean to become a cemetery.

He continued, that it is not for Greece to be the “guard” of Europe’s border, “On the contrary, we should adopt a stand that is active and intervening, so as to deal with and handle the special problems of Greece,” he said. He said his government must take a humanitarian approach to the crisis and has made constructive proposals. Greece isn’t just a “poor relation” that needs funds, but its geopolitical position in the region demands that it become an active player.

Referring to the Brussels summit on the refugee crisis on Oct. 25 he said, “At the summit, we made it clear that in recent months Greece has been carrying the burden but has the honor of showing Europe’s more humanitarian side.” Nonetheless, he said, the crisis is too large for one country to handle alone, decrying the fact that that the EU has been moving at a “turtle’s pace.”

At that summit he resisted demands that Greece create a “refugee town,” which he called a “a concentration camp” in the midst of Athens. In contrast, he persuaded the summit to subsidize some 20,000 people to be integrated into Greek society by living temporarily in rented homes or with families throughout Greece.

Tsipras said he told those “who shake a finger at Greece, Greece is in crisis. Greece is a poor nation, but rich in values and humanity! We therefore do not claim a single euro. Do not claim a cent to do our duty, our human duty toward those people who die in our gate.

“We are the Greece that teaches humanity. At this critical time Greece teaches its European partners what is the real face of Europe. The real face of Europe is seen on Lesbos island, where Greeks are helping refugees. And not at borders of Hungary where some are tripping refugees who carry babies in order to photograph them!” he said.

According to the United Nations report, over 500,000 refugees have entered Greece so far this year; 300,000 of those entered through the island of Lesbos, and 100,000 of those arrived in October alone. They continue to arrive.