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Victoria Mindova 

The homeless and socially weakest people are now approaching 25,000 in Athens alone, as Greece's economic crisis is deepening and the threat of increased poverty is growing. While statistics are showing a threatening increase in poverty, the New Democracy Member of the European Parliament, George Papanikolaou, has announced that the country has not used € 10 million in European grants for taking care of homeless people. GRReporter contacted Papanikolaou for him to comment not only on the case of unused resources and increasing poverty, but on issues related to illegal immigration and the position of northern Europe towards the countries in the periphery of the European Union in fighting human trafficking.

Last week, it became clear that Greece has failed to use € 10 million in European grants to fight poverty and for the socially needy. The loss is even greater, given the difficult economic situation today. How did we get here?

The budget of the European Union has provided specific costs of free food for the needy in 20 countries included in this programme. I have personally asked the Commission what is happening to these grants, because I know how hard the situation in Greece is now. My office in the capital is in the heart of the city, where the municipal kitchens for the poor are and I see every day queues for free lunch and dinner. After conducting my own research, it became clear that Greece is the only country from all the 20 states eligible to benefit from the programme that has not fully used the funds to take care of homeless people. In response to my question, the Commission has provided accurate data according to which 19 countries in the programme have used about 96% of the allocated grants and Greece is the only one, which has used only 47%. In particular, in its reply the Commission states that Greece has not benefited from free money because of “major administrative inefficiencies."

We lost € 10 million for 2010 because we do not have good administrative organization in the country. If we calculate that each portion of food costs € 10, we have deprived with this omission 3,000 citizens in need of food from soup kitchens for one year.

I would like to say quickly that it is easy to oppose that Greece is lagging behind the use of funds not only under the specific programme, but that there is generally a problem with the use of European grants. That is why, when the problem is recognized and we know the difficulties the country is going through, it is not reasonable to miss such opportunities. When only Greece out of 20 countries does not do well, we should immediately resort to remedial measures, to find the cause of the problem, fix it and not allow the country to lose even one euro due to administrative inefficiency or other inaccuracies ever.  

Do you have any positive signs from the government, although it is an interim one, that such losses will not be allowed in the future?

The government we have now is a coalition government, which is not usual in Greece. However, it is giving positive signals of willingness to change the system, which appears feasible for the first time, since it is composed of members of three different political forces. Recently, we have discussed financial support mechanisms intensively and how to raise funds. There are talks about major issues like the deficit and debt crisis. These are issues of both Europe and Greece. They are hiding a systematic risk and they require a common solution. Beyond this, however, Greece has to solve some of its domestic issues that are related to the use of existing support tools created to date. Some of these instruments at European level are the programmes that have been running from 2007 until now. Unused subsidies are extremely high. Only under the national framework for structural development, the country has to use about one billion Euros by 2013 and there is a serious dialogue about it right now. It is important that each ministry should take advantage of every opportunity in the European budget in order not to lose money for additional funding and development.

You mentioned the national framework for structural development and we could not help but note that all programmes in it are currently frozen because they require public funding, which cannot be granted at the moment. Is that right?

I cannot agree with this opinion, because if until recently, the state involvement in funding projects with EU funds was 25% of the entire project, it is now only 10% in order to facilitate the economic development in Greece. The fact is that through accurate planning and proper management of the money available to Greece in its own budget, some things could be "unfrozen". It is not possible to hamper a project that is 90% funded by European sources, just because we are not able to properly allocate the funds in the domestic budget. We cannot say that we want positive economic growth, new jobs and boost productivity in the country, and not find solutions to these problems. This is incomprehensible and unacceptable.

So, you believe that "there are no state funds to use EU funds" is an unfounded excuse?

I think there are many services that do not know exactly what to do. There are organizations that have not learned how to use these funds in the best way and there is also a very strong bureaucracy in the Greek public administration that must be changed immediately. If the state does not become more flexible, it will not be able to take advantage of the opportunities given.

You know that there is much talk about solidarity in Europe. There should be solidarity with the problems of the peripheral countries of the Union, but we must help ourselves too.

Illegal immigration in Greece is another serious problem that contributes to the problem of homeless people, mainly in big cities. What measures are being taken to curb the problem at European level?

Immigration and the related issues are some of the most important questions that have to be resolved in parallel with economic issues. Now, there really is a great influx of immigrants from North Africa, Middle East and beyond, who come to Greece worn-out, exhausted, to find a better life. They come into the country mainly from Evros, where the border with Turkey is. A few years ago the influx of illegal immigrants came mainly from the Aegean Sea, but now, the main wave is coming from Evros. There is an alarming trend in the current period of crisis - young people in Greece are leaving the country and seeking opportunities abroad while illegal immigrants are increasing and they want to find jobs here. They rarely have identity documents with them or can actually be effectively integrated into the Greek reality. The result is an explosive situation that threatens the public interest.

We would like Europe to understand that the illegal immigrants coming to Greece do not do it because they have suddenly fallen in love with the country. They come here because Greece is the first country in the euro area and at the same time, it is next to Turkey and is the end frontier of Europe. This is the easiest way to take people from the Middle East and other regions to settle somewhere in Europe. Therefore, the problem of illegal immigration is a problem of the whole community, not just of Greece.

For now, Frontex (the European organization for border security) has helped in the region of Evros. It has been there for a year but it could not be said that the problem is under control or limited. There are funds available in this area, but they are not utilized. In 2012, the negotiations for a new legalization programme for a single shelter will be completed. The programme will enable the introduction of unified processes across the European Union for giving shelter to refugees and immigrants. Last week, I visited the island of Lampedusa in Italy, where thousands of refugees have settled after the onset of the crisis in Libya and Indonesia. To show the size of the problem, I can tell you that around 60,000 illegal immigrants have concentrated on a small island between the two continents, given that the local people number only 5,000. All this leads to a sole conclusion: to be able to create a single policy to address the problems of illegal immigration, there should be an equal distribution of burdens and obligations among the countries of Europe. What Greece wants is some of the average 150,000 illegal immigrants entering the Greek country each year to be forwarded to other countries in order to control the volume. In this way, we could help the needy, isolate those who are dangerous and take care to efficiently introduce the rest into society. Thus, we will be able to protect Greek citizens and to ensure their movement in a secure environment. You know that in Athens, there are neighbourhoods that have become ghettos, crime is extremely high and their residents are afraid to go out on the streets after dark. We have to prevent this phenomenon from spreading.

To improve the situation, closer cooperation between Member States should be sought. And to make an agreement between Turkey and Europe to deport illegal immigrants who have come from Evros.

Are the countries of northern Europe willing to share the burden of illegal immigration and to help border countries like Greece, Italy and Spain deal with the problem, and to what extent, according to you?
 
Thank you for this question because this is actually one of the biggest problems of illegal immigration in Europe. In theory, the north European countries say they are ready to help, but in practice, things are different. Bulgaria also has a serious problem in this respect, but not much has been done to help it. Generally, north European countries are exerting serious pressure on south Europe and it is in very bad position now. This applies not only to immigration but also economic issues. Let us hope that we will be able to find common ground and ways to cooperate to move forward.

Does Greece hold a trump card that it could use in order to obtain the required assistance by Member States on immigration issues faster?

Our only trump-card is fulfilling our obligations. In the last two years, we had a government that did not comply with almost any of its promises, and received major financial support. Laws were voted but were not applied effectively. This has created a climate of serious distrust and the first thing we should do to enter into negotiations is to be accurate in fulfilling our obligations from now on. I.e. to implement what we promise. This will give us the basis to enter into a real and constructive dialogue and to renegotiate the conditions, which are not good today.