BRUSSELS – “We are committed to offering sustainable growth and strengthening our position in the EU. It is good to realised that this cycle of pain is over for Greece. We are also following European developments,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Thursday at a meeting with European Parliament President Roberta Metsola.

Referring to migration, which will be discussed at the European Council, Mitsotakis said that there will be an effort to determine what led to the tragic shipwreck in international waters of the Mediterranean while Greece’s caretaker government was at the helm.

“Everyone in Greece feels immense sorrow over the deaths of these people. It was a boat filled with people given false assurances of a safe journey. The danger was huge. The only alternative is to break the cycle and strike at the root of the problem of ships leaving from the Southern Mediterranean and risking lives,” the Greek premier said.

He also pointed out that the Greek coast guard has saved thousands of lives and places priority on protecting those in danger, not just guarding the borders. He pointed out the great reduction in refugee flows through collaboration with transit countries, saying there must be similar cooperation with North African countries as well.

Metsola, on her part, emphasised that no child should die at sea and said that the European Union should reach an agreement on migration before the European elections, with emphasis on protecting the most vulnerable groups and tackling traffickers.

On Thursday morning, Mitsotakis participated in the European People’s Party (EPP) leaders’ summit.

(ANA/ N. Armenis)