Mitsotakis to Financial Times: Cautious about Italy-Albania Migrant Agreement – Europe needs workforce as population shrinks

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis expressed reservations about the Italy-Albania agreement to establish migrant reception centers outside Europe, questioning its viability at a European level. In an interview with the Financial Times on Thursday, Mitsotakis said, “Let’s be cautious here. This is a bilateral agreement. I’m not sure it can be applied across Europe. We also need to see if it will be effective.”

He highlighted that migrants processed in such centers would fall under Italy’s asylum laws and be returned there. On a broader scale, Mitsotakis pointed out that it remains unclear where migrants would be directed under a European framework.

At the same time, Mitsotakis emphasized the importance of promoting legal migration alongside efforts to combat illegal immigration. “If you want to build a big fence, you also need a big door,” he said, underscoring the labor shortages in both Greece and Europe. He added, “Who will pick our olives? We are a shrinking continent, and we all recognize that to maintain our productivity, we need workers—whether unskilled or skilled.”

The Financial Times noted that Greece, as a key entry point to the EU from the southeast, often finds itself at the center of migration issues and has faced criticism from humanitarian organizations for its treatment of asylum seekers arriving by sea.

Mitsotakis stressed that Greece has saved “thousands of people at sea” but made it clear that the country will make it harder for irregular migrants to enter. He also called on Brussels to increase efforts in deporting migrants whose asylum applications have been rejected, noting that the current deportation rate is only 20%.

“There are people whose asylum applications are rejected… but what happens to them has never been adequately addressed,” he said, highlighting a gap in the EU’s migration framework. Mitsotakis found some proposed ideas “interesting” but stated that “we are still in the early stages of formulating a concrete proposal.”

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