The Minister of National Defence Panos Kammenos, accompanied by the Chief of HAGS Lieutenant General Vassilios Tellidis, went to Mytilene, where he visited the 98th National Guard Higher Command and guardposts, he paid his respects to the Monastery of Taxiarchis and he participated to a meeting with the local authorities, concerning the migration issue. Afterwards, the Minister of National Defence will visit Chios island.

During a press conference, he stated – among other things:

“It is a great joy to be here in Mytilene, a land and an island I had the honour to serve for two years, from 2007 until 2009. I see among you many friends, journalists with whom I had an excellent cooperation during these years.

I would like to thank for their presence here the Secretary General for the Aegean and Island Policy Mr. Yiannis Yiannellis and the Mayor of Lesvos, Mr. Spiros Galinos, as well as the members of the “Independent Greeks”, since my visit here is first of all in the cadre of my duties as Minister of National Defence, but at the same time, I visit the island as President of the “Independent Greeks”, the party that currently participates in the Government as a governmental partner. Therefore, I will answer to your questions in both my qualities.

First of all I visit the Units on this island as Minister of National Defence, along with the Chief of the Hellenic Army General Staff. I would like to say that the morale is at an excellent level. The initiatives we have taken from the first moment I assumed the Ministry of National Defence so as to reinforce the Units at the borderline, Evros and the islands, have given fruit. Already, with the new enlistment series, we will finally have – for the first time after many years – the complete numbers demanded by the planning.

I would like to thank in particular the society of Mytilene for the hospitality they have offered to the personnel of the Armed Forces, the Officers, the NCOs and, especially, the soldiers, since they have found here a very friendly environment. The circumstances are difficult. I have assured the personnel on the guarantee offered by this Government, as far as the personnel of the Armed Forces is concerned, because various scenarios have been heard, that they will not be affected by any demands of the creditors, nor by the latest agreements.

No one will be discharged from the Armed Forces. I assured in particular the NCOs and the Professional Soldiers, but also the Officers, that their wages and pensions will not be affected. On the contrary, we will seek for the implementation of the State Council’s decision, so that the personnel will be reimbursed for the consequences of the previous memoranda. Along with the military leadership, we have released these sums to the Ministry of Finance and the Greek State is obliged to implement the State Council’s decision.

The last agreement requires a reduction of expenditure compared to the sales of defence materiel. We have already ensured 100 million Euros for 2015, from old defence materiel that has already been sold, and the remaining 200 millions for the next years have been ensured from similar materiel, such as missiles which are close to their expiration date, from the Hellenic Air Force, Navy and Army.

I would also like to say that I am proud of the Armed forces personnel’s efficiency. Just the day before yesterday, the entry of a trafficker – by jet-ski – was traced by a guardpost here in Mytilene and it was afterwards dealt with by the Coast Guard.

I would also like to thank and congratulate the local authorities, the Mayor, the Secretary General for the Aegean and Island Policy, the Hellenic Coast Guard and the Hellenic Police for the effort they have made lately, as far as the big issue of illegal immigrants’ entry into the island is concerned.

This phenomenon is unprecedented. In July and August 2015, we already count 90,000 entries, which is also the population of Mytilene. We are talking about a 1566% increase. This phenomenon has caused great problems to the local society and, for this reason, I had a meeting with the local authorities, in the presence of the Brigadier of the Hellenic Police, the Commodore of the Hellenic Coast Guard and the Harbour Master, the Mayor, the Deputy Regional Governor and the president of the Harbour Fund.

As far as this issue is concerned, I would like to say that my position, as a member of the Government but also as a Leader of the “Independent Greeks”, has been the same since the beginning; that the immigrants and the refugees should not stay in our islands, not even for one day. They should be immediately transferred with ships that should cover the arch from Kos island to Samos island, also covering Leros island, as well as the islets we have immigrants’ entry from, Chios island, Oinousses island and Mytilene, aiming at getting the immigrants and the refugees registered on board and providing them with credentials allowing them to travel on board, so that they would not affect tourism, which has already been affected, not as far as the number of tourists is concerned, but as a financial outcome, due to the financial crisis hitting our country.

I am happy to say that this solution has been accepted. By decision of the Government, the first ship, “El. Venizelos”, even though it didn’t satisfy the needs of the entire Mytilene, it already transferred  2,000 immigrants. However, I believe that the transfer of immigrants should be immediately supported by two more ships. One ship that I know it is available is “Crete I” or “Crete II” of the same company, and I think that one more ship should be included, even as a permanent station, a ship that may not be able to make transfers, yet it will be used as a station for the registration of immigrants and refugees.

Moreover, I don’t see why we shouldn’t consider the possibility of mobilizing – with EU funding – the ships of NEL Lines which are currently tied due to non payment of the employees. I would like to say that I am by the side of NEL Lines’ employees and seafarers, who face a huge problem, since their hours worked have not been paid yet.

I am pleased to see that NGOs have agreed with this proposal, as well as the Mayor and the regional authorities. In the context of my participation in the Government, I will seek the implementation of this proposal. I would also like to tell you that shortly before, I was informed that the President of the Hellenic Republic has signed an Act of Legislative Content which gives to the Marine Minister the capability of signing the exceptional operation and payment of ships, and I believe that this will provide a solution to the huge problem we are facing.

I would like to express my settled view, you are all aware of for many years, that the establishment of hospitality centers does not help, on the contrary it escalates the problem since, unfortunately, there is a transit route from the other side. Now, concluding and allowing for your questions, I would like to provide one more evidence which will be very useful, and I will ask from the local media of Mytilene to broadcast it,; it is a video which proves that the Turkish patrol boats do not discourage the transfer of immigrants and refugees but, on the contrary, they facilitate it. I would like to remind to the older journalists – I see that you are all healthy and strong – that this also happened in the past, and it had stopped with the great operation we had organised for the arrest of the traffickers.

I also believe that it would be useful to show to the world – since the international attention is turned here – the photographs which are at your disposal and prove that travel agencies on the opposite side, and especially in Ismir, provide the immigrants and refuges with the materiel they need so as to travel across. I have pictures that show them in vessels with outboard engines; they give them life vests and boats prepared by the travel agencies, paying the fare within 20 hours for the illegal trafficking.

This shows, and it is finally proved, that not only doesn’t Turkey respect the refoulement treaty, but it facilitates illegal human traffickers, thus putting itself to a position to be judged by EU and NATO, where we will raise the issue, during the nest informal Ministers meeting, on September 1-2.

I will also ask for the immediate intervention of Mr. Avramopoulos on this issue; and I would like to clarify one thing, since many have referred to the prevention of entry. Prevention of entry is not feasible; what does it mean? Prevention of entry means that a soldier or a NCO could fire to prevent an immigrant’s entry. It means that he will prevent the entry of a child or a pregnant woman. No Greek soldier could ever fire against a minor or the civilian population.  No Greek Officer could ever order such an operation.

Those who speak of prevention should reconsider the use of that word. Neither the Armed Forces nor the Coast Guard could ever perform such a prevention. We could prevent the entry only if the opposite side implemented the international and European treaties. Let us not forget that Turkey still receives EU’s subsidies for its “European” completion, while killing non-combatants in Kurdish villages. I am now at your disposal for questions”.

JOURNALIST: Minister, I’ve been on the island for three days. Within a few days, I’ve seen 1,800 recorded immigrants, 2,700 on the second day and I think 2,100 were recorded today. I saw with my own eyes, within 20 minutes, three boatloads, no deterrence, no obstruction, I saw three boatloads in Skala Sykamias, if I say it correctly, I saw a blue beach become orange from the lifejackets and I saw a boat “cemetery”, which means that recently we’ve had a very large inflow of immigrants, refugees, call it whatever you will.

P. KAMMENOS: Let us clear this, there is a difference between the two. Refugees are another thing.

JOURNALIST: I am well aware of that, and that’s why the Syrians left much faster than the other immigrants, because they really have problems. So, I saw no Police, nor Coast Guard, nothing, already in Skales Sykamias, the village I mentioned before, the locals are enraged because they find them in their homes, Mytilene is at least 45 km away, the images we see remind us of a Third World situation. So, during the time I stayed there, I saw not a single policeman, not a single coast guard law enforcement officer, and I will not even dare to mention the Army. If someone was there, there would be some deterrence and it could be completely bloodless.

P. KAMMENOS: Let me tell you, they have clear instructions from the traffickers. As soon as the Coast Guard shows up within national territorial waters, they turn an illegal entry operation into a combat rescue operation. Let’s examine the possibilities in this case. First, when there are people at sea, their lives are in danger, and the directions are – and that’s what we do, also due to Greek seamanship – to rescue them. We can not leave people at sea.

Second, let’s say that, within the framework of deterrence, a Coast Guard ship would appear on the borderline and tell them to stop. Then, they would sink the boat, fall into the sea and swim towards Greek territorial waters. In this case, there are two options, either the Coast Guard conducts search and rescue or it leaves them there, in which case they await the Turkish Coast Guard to conduct search and rescue within Hellenic territorial waters, in which case Greece will appear to be unable to conduct search and rescue within its own territorial waters, which must be conducted by Turkey.

JOURNALIST: So this is a “between a rock and a hard place” situation.

P. KAMMENOS: It is a “between a rock and a hard place” situation. I’ve served as political Head of the Coast Guard and I personally know the men on the floating craft and the Port Authority. These men have exceeded their capabilities and, in fact, they are in a difficult position, far beyond their limits. They are low paid employees, struggling to save lives. They return home having been infected with crabs, hepatitis C, they have not all been properly vaccinated.

Right now, the Hellenic Police, the Coast Guard and Non-Governmental Organisations, together with the Municipality and the Region, have made available all assets in Mytilene to transport here immigrants from Mantamados and the south. The number of immigrants flowing in right now is well beyond the capabilities of the Hellenic Police and Coast Guard forces combined. I would like to tell you that Hellenic Police and Coast Guard reinforcements have been arranged for the area, however no amount of additional forces will be enough.

These numbers come from the Army. In July and August 2015, we had 90,240 illegal entries in Lesvos only. The locals talk about 92,000. So, we have the population of the entire island entering the island within one and a half months. These numbers are not manageable. No matter how many Police and Coast Guard forces we brought, the problem would not be manageable. It is a good thing they manage to deal with this phenomenon with self-control and combine their efforts with the locals’ efforts.

So this is about the traffickers. I assure you that the authorities and the Armed Forces are doing the best they can. However, we can not deal with these numbers of immigrants. If the ships are here, we send them directly from the island to mainland Greece and during the trip we provide them with the documents they need – mainly to the refugees – to go to other places, this is the only temporary solution we can give.

JOURNALIST: When do you think this will start? Because we are talking about tens of thousands of people here.

P. KAMMENOS: The first trip was yesterday evening. Yesterday, the President of the Republic, upon proposal by the Prime Minister and the Ministerial Council, signed an Act of Legislative Content which enables the lease of ships. I hope and I will also do everything within my powers to start this endeavour even today, in the following hours. I would also like to tell you that this should be combined across the Aegean in order to prevent unilateral pressures. We also have issues in military areas. You understand that, camps have sentries. And they can not know if an incoming person is a civilian or armed intruder. So, the only thing we can do in these cases is to close out these areas and stop the movement of incoming illegal immigrants. However, the policy followed by our neighbours is a policy intended to cause problems to Greece. And it is not a Greek issue, it is a European one.

What I am asking from here, from Mytilene, is first the immediate activation of Mr. Avramopoulos as Commissioner, in order to receive immediate funding. A ship costs approximately €30,000 per day. These funds can be made available in order to lease ships and there are ships available. I already know four ships that can be used for this purpose. And as time passes by and tourist traffic is reduced, there will be more ships available. However, the matter of entry is a matter of two million candidate immigrants waiting in Turkey. This must be dealt with urgently. With measures in their countries, with the ability of these people to return to their homes and stay there. We can not solve this problem with deterrence.

JOURNALIST: Minister, why is there a need to finance these ships when the passengers moved to Piraeus, for example, pay a ticket, and in fact with an additional charge of 25%? ANEK, the managing company of the ship “El. Venizelos” charged €60 per person instead of €47 which is the fare for economy class and demanded that children above the age of two pay the whole €60 fare, when children under the age of five are free of charge and children from five to ten years of age pay half. I can not understand why the State tolerates this profiteering.

P. KAMMENOS: If this is true, because I have also received complaints that they sell water at €3,5, the authorities must intervene immediately.

JOURNALIST: Regarding the political developments?

P. KAMMENOS: The “Independent Greeks” party will participate autonomously in the elections with the commitment, as requested by SYRIZA through Mr. Flambouraris, as well as the talks I had with Mr. Tsipras, that after the elections we will co-operate again with SYRIZA in the Government.