The deadly shipwreck off the coast of the Peloponnese clearly shows the failure - not just of Greece but of the entire European Union - to promote a structured migration and refugee policy that makes saving human lives a top priority, SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance leader Alexis Tsipras said on Friday, talking to Euractiv.
"It is the height of hypocrisy to be counting hundreds of dead men, women and children at the depths of the Mediterranean Sea while some people in Brussels, Athens, Budapest and Berlin consider international law a "luxury" or "outdated" and say that all there is to discuss is how many euros will be given to reception countries to house the refugees there," he said.
Tsipras said that the negotiations on a European migration and asylum agreement must "radically change direction" and focus on providing legal and safe routes for the resettlement of refugees from third countries in the EU member-states in a fair way, with guarantees that a significant number will be received by European countries each year.
The more such safe and legal routes are increased and the role of the EU is upgraded, alongside "our cooperation in migration with countries outside the EU", the more the migrant trafficking rings and the illegal and dangerous routes they create will be weakened, he added.