ATHENS – Main opposition Syriza party on Friday urged the government to call for an extraordinary EU summit, bearing in mind, it said, that “the (2016) EU-Turkey Joint Declaration for the management of the migration crisis is being actively challenged, and this demands an immediate European initiative,” after a broad meeting of leader Alexis Tsipras with Syriza officials who have served in government positions relating to the migration crisis.

Syriza stressed that “the EU must warrant the implementation of the agreement, as well as take responsibility for developing an effective plan to counter a possibility of its invalidation. A plan that obviously must be seen through by the principles of solidarity and the sharing of responsibility.”

The party also noted that “the Mitsotakis government’s responsibility for the current dramatic situation in our islands, are enormous and indisputable.”

It criticized the government that “over the last seven months it neglected to decongest the islands and transfer vulnerable groups of refugees to the mainland, all because it didn’t want to upset regional governors and mayors,” which the party called a small-minded policy.

Finally, Syriza said that while the government is “at a critical juncture, with Turkey escalating its threats and using refugees as leverage to blackmail, the government opted for an attitude of national irresponsibility, choosing instead to divide citizens, create an explosive social predicament and nurture pre-conditions of civil war.”