Live replay of the debate on Migration situation at the Greek-Turkish border and the EU's common response to it during the plenary session in Brussels. The plenary session takes place in Brussels instead of Strasbourg because of concerns linked to the spread of the coronavirus. The session has been shortened to one day - Tuesday 10 March The following transcription is the result of an automatic process. Check Against delivery.

Brussels

EU - Greece (T)

debate

plenary session

EU - Türkiye (T)

migration and refugees in Europe (T)

JOHANSSON, Ylva (SE, EC)

BRNJAC, Nikolina (HR)

Migration situation at the Greek-Turkish border and the EU's common response to it: Opening statements by Nikolina BRNJAC, Croatian Presidency and by Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs

SOUNDBITE (Original), Katarina BARLEY, Vice-President of the EC, The next agenda item is council commission statements on the situation of migrants on the border between Greece and Turkey and the common response of the EU. Can I give the floor to Mrs Brnjac, the Minister, on behalf of the Council, please.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Nikolina BRNJAC, Croatian Presidency, Thank you, Madam President, Commissioner, honourable members.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Nikolina BRNJAC, Croatian Presidency, There was a light. Could need magic hands now. Not working. There is a mike. If you would like to take.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Nikolina BRNJAC, Croatian Presidency, I would like to thank you for this very timely debate. Since the start of our presidency, this is the third time that we are discussing in the plenary the situation on our external borders. This shows they bought into this parliament, give to this issue and we fully endorse it.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Nikolina BRNJAC, Croatian Presidency, Let us start with the situation on the Greek borders which is indeed the most pressing one. Greece has been under considerable pressure since twenty seventh of February following the announcement of Turkish authorities on opening borders stores the EU.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Nikolina BRNJAC, Croatian Presidency, According to some reports, there are some 20000 persons inside the border area on the Turkish side trying to move towards a Greek sea and land borders. But due to time reaction, both on operational and political level, massive illegal border crossings did not take place despite certain incidents.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Nikolina BRNJAC, Croatian Presidency, So we can say that the current situation is stable both on land and sea borders. Last week, home affairs ministers met for extraordinary council meeting to discuss the situation at the EU external borders, with Turkey in line with a strong statements of the presidents of the EU institutions the day before, during their receipts to the Greek Turkish border.

SOUNDBITE (English), Nikolina BRNJAC, Croatian Presidency, In this regard, the EU and its member states will take all necessary measures in accordance with the EU and the international law. The current situation at the external borders is not acceptable. We express clearly our expectations that Turkey will continue...

SOUNDBITE (Original), Nikolina BRNJAC, Croatian Presidency, The ministers expressed strong solidarity with Greece, but also with other member states, which might be similarly affected in other efforts to manage EU external borders. The minister sent a clear message that while we acknowledge the increased migratory burden and risk that Turkey is facing on its territory and a substantial efforts it has made in hosting 3.7 million migrants and refugees.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Nikolina BRNJAC, Croatian Presidency, We strongly reject Turkey's use of migratory pressure for political purposes. The EU and its member states remain determined to effectively protect the EU's external borders and illegal crossings will not be tolerated.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Nikolina BRNJAC, Croatian Presidency, [...]And opportunistic my migrant smugglers, which we will continue to fight actively. These messages were again clearly stated via for [... ]

SOUNDBITE (Original), Nikolina BRNJAC, Croatian Presidency, [...] of the EU-Turkey statement on the migration in order to de-escalate the situation. Leaders decided to task high representative Borrell and the Turkish Minister for Foreign Affairs to work over the next few days on clarifying the implementation of the deal between the Turkey and the European Union.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Nikolina BRNJAC, Croatian Presidency, Coming back to the situation in Greece. Our response has so far so far been in following. Last week, Frontex launched two calls for rapid intervention upon Greece, requests one for the sea border and one for the land border deployments of additional staff under a rapid reaction pool and technical assets under the rapid reaction equipment for art taking place.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Nikolina BRNJAC, Croatian Presidency, President michel noted that the meeting had clarified a number of aspects relating to the implementation of the statement and in particular had provided an opportunity to show how the EU has implemented its financial commitments, including the pledge to mobilise a total of six billion euro to support refugees in Turkey.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Nikolina BRNJAC, Croatian Presidency, Greece also activated the union's civil protection mechanism for equipment that will help them provide arriving migrants with basic non-food items such as medical equipment, sheltered tents, blankets and other necessary supplies.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Nikolina BRNJAC, Croatian Presidency, Member states have been very responsive creek in their reaction, and the commission has been efficient in coordinating efforts. The commission has offered an immediate assistance of 350 million euros to Greece, which is available to support border and migration might

SOUNDBITE (Original), Nikolina BRNJAC, Croatian Presidency, Regional and operational cooperation with our partners. The commission has proposed to further develop her coordination mechanism with the Western Balkans countries. The pending status agreement....

SOUNDBITE (Original), Nikolina BRNJAC, Croatian Presidency, [...]To monitor the situation and coordinate EU action on the border between Bulgaria and Turkey. We were informed the situation is stable. There is no increase in the number of illegal border crossings.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Nikolina BRNJAC, Croatian Presidency, However, the situation has to be closely monitored and we should increase our level of preparedness. Concerning the western and central Mediterranean routes, we have not observed deterioration in the overall migratory situation, but we remain vigilant on all routes.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Nikolina BRNJAC, Croatian Presidency, It will lead the commissioner. I will let the commissioner elaborate on the specific points of this action plan presented last week for the comprehensive assistance that the EU provides to improve the situation at the Greek Turkish borders. Thank you very much for your attention.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Nikolina BRNJAC, Croatian Presidency, Thank you, Minister Brnjac, Commissioner Johansson for the Commission.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Thank you. Honourable members, we are faced with an urgent and serious situation at our  [...] disagree that we, the European Union, protect our external borders. But it's up [...]

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Second support for Greece. Of course, Greece manage entry at our common EU border and we are now facing politically motivated pressure at the European external border. It is necessary that we support Greece and we are supporting Greece and we are now taking urgent measures in all these areas.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, And third, of course, we must share responsibilities for supporting Syrian refugees also in Turkey. As you all know, last week, the precedents of the European Parliament, the European Council and and the council and the commission visited the Greek, Turkish, Turkish and Bulgarian Turkish borders, stressing our unity, commitment and solidarity last week.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Also, the commission presented an action plan, two measures to be taken by the union and the member states together to provide critical support to Greece. As a result, we, together with the member states and our agencies, we agreed on a number of concrete steps. First, we agreed to support Greece and other countries to handle this situation, to protect our external borders and support people.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Greece is a are is obliged to protect their borders and the EU external borders, but they also have to do this with proportionate measures with the laws. So to rapid border intervention operations by the European border and Coast Guard at the land and sea borders between Greece and Turkey. An additional 100 border guards will be deployed as well as assets like helicopters and boats.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Frontex stands ready to coordinate a new program for the quick return of irregular migrants from Greece. To countries of origin. The European Asylum Support Office is also ready to accelerate the deployment of experts to support in Greece at the request of Greece. The civil protection mechanism has been activated 16 member states so far pledged support to Greece.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, That, I think, is European solidarity in action and in action quite quickly. Member states are a set assisting Greece by sending medical equipment, medical teams, shelters, tents, blankets and a lot of other items that are needed.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, We also need to give financial support. The commission will immediately make available 350 million euro with a possibility to increase by another 350 million through an amending budget. And this will be used to increase the reception capacity and the living conditions for the migrants on the islands and on them and the mainland.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, It will be used to support the provision of services such as healthcare, food provision and transportation to support Greek asylum service and to strengthen the ongoing voluntary return programme

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Tomorrow evening, I will go to Greece and on Thursday I will meet with the Greek minister and the authorities to discuss how we should implement these action plan. And of course, I will also ask the Greek government how they will act now to make sure that they can comply to the EU law and the right to asylum and also to the principle of non-refoulement

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Second, our relationship with Turkey, the EU Turkey statement remains valid. We must continue our dialogue. We must de-escalate the rhetoric and decrease the tension that involves finding a path forward with Turkey. The lines of communication with Turkey remain open and active.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, With Turkey, we share a joint responsibility for refugees and a joint commitment to the statement. That is why we are continuing a constructive engagement. As you all know, yesterday evening, president on the line and President Michel had a constructive dialogue with President Erdogan.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, The two presidents expressed very clearly to President Erdogan their commitment to move forward with the perspective of migrants and stability in the region. And on our side we are delivering on our commitments in the EU Turkey statement by having provided safe a legal pathways to Europe for over 26 500 Syrian refugees, by supporting schools, health care and basic services for Syrian refugees in Turkey.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, -

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, To conclude this, let me say the situation at the European external border towards Turkey is worrying. But I also must say this is not 2015. We are much, much better prepared now to manage the situation because we know better what to expect.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, That's why we are past it possible for the European Union to react quickly in support to Greece and to the external borders of the European Union. But let me also say, even if we are much better prepared in 2015, we are not well protect bad enough.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, And what we are lacking is a common European migration and asylum system. This is really a problem for us and this has been my task since I took office. I have have construct dialogues with all the 27 member states and a lot of dialogues here in the European Parliament on this topic to find a compromise forward for a common approach so that we together we'd be better prepared to face migration and asylum together in the European Union.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, And I must say that these dialogues have been constructive. We all know it's a difficult task, of course, but I am quite at least a more optimistic now than before I started the dialogues. And I'm preparing now the proposals. And I'm you can expect them to be present after Easter.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Let me conclude with one aspect I think I shared with many of you is the situation for children and maybe especially those that are without their parents, unaccompanied children, minors, teenagers.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, ]One third of all children arrive in Greece without parents or family. Around five thousand five hundred children and teenagers in total. According to Europol, 10 percent are younger than 14 years old. They face violence, abuse and exploitation.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, <p>Many of them just disappear from the asylum reception centres. And we don't know where they are. I'm afraid that many of them fall in the hands of criminals. Sometimes the same criminals who traffic migrants or subtract people for sexual exploitation. [20.9s]</p>

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Just imagine being a 50 year old fleeing, searching for a better life. Imagine how afraid you should be alone under these circumstances and under these risks of being victims for abuse and trafficking.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, My mission together with the Greek government, is to put in place a process to protect and care for these vulnerable children and teenagers. I want to find solutions that will help unaccompanied migrant minors in particular on the Greek islands with relocation to other member states, with medical aid, with housing, with safety, protecting them from being victims of trafficking.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, On Thursday. We have been in Greece together with the president Von der Leyen, this is the aim of our purpose: to continue or to develop new ways to protect these unaccompanied minors.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, I call on all member states to help these children and these youngsters and to welcome them. That's the spirit of solidarity we need that will see us through these difficult times. Thank you.