Photo taken on March 2, 2020 shows a woman with a child just arriving at Skala Sikaminias, in the island of Lesvos, Greece.(Xinhua/Marios Lolos)
"Turkey is not an enemy and people are not just means to reach a goal," she stressed, expressing her compassion for people who reached Europe's borders on false promises, as she noted.
Sassoli, on his part, highlighted the need for a strong common European approach on the issue which is on the table for the past five years, since the first mass flows started to cross the Aegean Sea.
Greek soldiers patrol near the fence at the closed Kastanies border crossing in northeastern Greece, where refugees and migrants gathered on the borderline between Greece and Turkey from the Turkish side, near the Evros River, in an attempt to cross into Greece, on March 2, 2020.(Photo by Dimitris Tosidis/Xinhua)
Over one million reached Greece since 2015, fleeing wars and extreme poverty and continued their journey to other European countries until the closure of borders along the Balkan route in the winter of 2016 and the signing of EU-Turkey agreement aimed to stem the influx.
Under the deal, Turkey would be provided with financial assistance to accommodate the millions of refugees and migrants hosted in the country in return for increased efforts to deal with the human smuggling networks operating in the region.
"We need -- we see it every day -- to strengthen our common policy framework to deal with migration on a European level. We are here today for one more reason, to tell Turkey that we do not want more talks, but that Turkey respects what has been agreed," Sassoli said on Tuesday.
A boat with refugees and migrants arrives at Skala Sikaminias, on the Greek island of Lesbos, Greece, Feb. 29, 2020. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos)
Stressing that nobody wishes to see a replay of the 2015-2016 refugee crisis, Plenkovic also voiced support for Greece, calling for determination to give a European response to the new challenge.
"Greece is now the shield of the external borders of the EU... We will send a message to Turkey that good relations between Turkey and the EU depend on both of us. We will seek to find political and diplomatic solution to deescalate the situation we have today here," the Croatian prime minister told the press briefing.
Greece has demonstrated solidarity to people in need for years and is currently hosting about 100,000 already, but cannot shoulder alone all the burden of safeguarding Europe's borders from more massive flows, said Greek prime minister.
"Greece expects tangible solidarity from the EU and I can tell you that the presence of the entire leadership of the EU here at the outer border of Europe sends a clear signal to everyone. But let's be honest. Europe has not been up to the task of dealing with the migrant crisis. I hope this crisis will serve as a wakeup call for everyone to assume their responsibilities," Mitsotakis stated.
"We stand ready to support Turkey in dealing with its refugee problem and find a solution to the Syria conundrum, but not under these circumstances... Migrants and refugees cannot be used as instruments, as pawns in a geopolitical game," the Greek leader concluded. (1 euro= 1.12 U.S. dollars)
