Galery

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However, since Antonis Samaras has become the leader of New Democracy, seven deputies have left it.

At the beginning, they said that New Democracy would split, but it did not happen. Most of these seven cases were voluntary. The colleagues were willing to go another way. Ultimately, we live in a democratic country and this is their right. Sole judge of all are people. I believe that the majority of my colleagues in the party understand and agree with the leader’s positions.

A very serious problem in Greece is illegal immigration. According to recent data by Frontex, 300 people enter the country every day and the majority of them come through the land border between Greece and Turkey. What measures are necessary?

There is a political problem and New Democracy has stressed it several times. Besides the problem with the geographical location of Greece in the outskirts of united Europe and in close proximity to the Third World and Asia, we have the law of George Papandreou’s government. It gives hope to every illegal immigrant that he or she could become a European citizen and thus attracts even greater numbers of immigrants. Therefore, there must be a change in this law and we have already said that we would cancel it when we come into power .

Furthermore, we need to change immigration policy completely. There must be reception centres to carry out control. Those who have the right to asylum should receive it, but others have to be sent back to their home countries within a specified period of time.

What do you think about the project of placing a fence along the border with Turkey?

If I am not mistaken, the length of the land border is 200 km, and the fence will be around 10-15 km long. As far as I understood, traffickers will simply have to shift towards the north part of the border. Therefore, I do not think the fence will be particularly effective. We have to discourage them with how we deal with illegal immigration. I am not talking about violent methods, but about the manner in which the authorities in the Netherlands are acting. There are centres in which all cases are considered and where it is determined who can stay in the country with legal documents and who should return. The chaotic situation of not knowing the exact number of illegal immigrants in Greece should be put to an end.