Greek Minister of Defence Panos Kammenos
"If our partners, the lenders, tried to strike a blow to Greece, then the Greek government would cancel the Dublin Convention and would send to Berlin those immigrants who are on Greek territory," Minister of Defence Panos Kammenos said during the national meeting of Independent Greeks.
He stressed that if there were people supporting the Islamic State among those immigrants who would be sent to the European Union, the responsibility for this would belong entirely to Europe, "which would have stricken a blow to Greece."
Panos Kammenos expressed support for the efforts of Minister of Finance Yanis Varoufakis and Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Kotzias in their negotiations with the European partners. With regard to Varoufakis, he pointed out that he did not "give way" during the meeting of the Eurogroup, where he was "alone against 18". As for the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kammenos said that he correctly described Greek politics when he warned that if Greece fell, "it would become the entrance for jihadists."
At the same time, the leader of Independent Greeks assured that the government would not continue the policy of austerity, which would lead to a higher unemployment rate, nor would it implement "orders, which, through high taxes, would lead to confiscation of private and state property."
"We are negotiating, as we have decided that we will not return to the policies that have brought chaos to Greece and poverty to the Greek families," added Kammenos.
He also assured that "no one would be unpunished", particularly with regard to the scandalous cases of the weapons of the Ministry of Defence.
Meanwhile, Deputy Minister of Migration Policy Tasia Christodoulopoulou said that in order to save time and to do a "social good", the government was planning to rent empty flats in Greece to house immigrants in them.
In an interview for RealNews, Tasia Christodoulopoulou pointed out that in an attempt to accommodate immigrants, asylum seekers in the country, there was a proposal to rent empty hotels, private clinics, small shops, empty public buildings, as well as vacant flats in Greece.
This solution was chosen because it could be immediately applied and because it was flexible, while the construction of new open accommodation centres was a long and cumbersome process. At the same time, this option would provide income to the owners and it would facilitate the social integration of refugees, while avoiding the creation of ghettos.
As explained by the Deputy Minister, the implementation of the new migration policy would require the absorption of as much as possible of the European funds provided for similar purposes.