Today Wednesday 11 January 2017, the Alternate Minister of National Defence Dimitris Vitsas on REAL FM Radio station and journalist Nikos Stravelakis stated the following:

On the refugee issue:

In continental Greece there is no problem, apart from a few tents in Vagiohori and the 100 heated tents in Elliniko, where we are faced with a problem. There is no reason to present any excuses especially for Moria.

It is mine and Giannis Mouzalas’ belief that in a sense we were caught unprepared by the harsh weather conditions. Greece is a country unfortunately not prepared for such weather conditions. I am not looking for excuses. None of us expected such a thing. Of course we were faced with an unexpected issue, it was one of the most horrible surprises, it was a moral obligation of the Hospital Owners Association to host refugees at their hotels, they did not do so, so they did not get paid. Let the people of Mytilene judge them. It drives me crazy listening to such news. The person who took such a decision should be ashamed.

We ended up with the solution of the war vessel, however it is not enough to get the vessel there, the refuges should go with it. Moreover, we are dealing with the situation slowly but surely. We have established other facilities as well, rooms etc. The vessel can host up to 570 people.

As a total, the Ministry of National Defence and as Armed Forces we are making a huge effort to deal with the situation and all problems caused by the terrible weather conditions. This effort will not be affected by what each politician says. I am proud of this effort, of course this does not mean that we can’t do more.

In 2016 the MoD spent approximately 106 million Euro for hosting and feeding 60.000 refugees located in Greece. We are prepared to receive the regular grants from the EU. So far, we are only being congratulated as a country on the management of the refugee issue.

On the issue of the 8 Turkish officers who have sought political asylum to Greece.

Right now the issue is for Justice to reach its conclusions based on international and national law. I have faith in Justice. If the Supreme Court (Arios Pagos) decides not to release them, the whole procedure stops there. There are no other issues which surpass this. The Hellenic justice has the ability and the strength to do what is has to do.

On the convention for the Cyprus issue in Geneva:

We have made sure that the word “disaster” is not a part of these negotiations. Even if these negotiations do not bear fruits they will continue in due time and that is positive. The Cyprus matter should be resolved based on the UN decisions and of course without foreign occupation troops and guarantees as an integrated state. The Greek and Cypriot governments are jointly working on this effort.