European Commissioner for Migration and Home Affairs Dimitris Avramopoulos met with the President of the Hellenic Republic, Prokopis Pavlopoulos and caretaker Prime Minister Vassiliki Thanou, in Athens, Friday. During Avramopoulos’s meeting with the Greek President, both men expressed hope that a solution would be found on the pressing matter of the refugee crisis at the EU emergency Summit scheduled for September 23. Pavlopoulos, who will represent Greece next Wednesday at the Summit, said the European Union had to place ‘humans at its core’, adding that money was a means to serve humans. Pavlopoulos underlined that the refugee crisis brings to the fore the question of the 3 ‘pillars’ the European idea is built upon: Ancient Greece’s culture and freedom; Rome’s state structure; and Christianity which is the foundation of solidarity. On his part, Commissioner Avramopoulos expressed the hope that ‘the European spirit would prevail’. Avramopoulos expressed his disappointment regarding the stance of some EU member-states on the refugee crisis.

Meanwhile, during the Commissioner’s meeting with Greek PM Thanou, the latter reassured Avramopoulos that the Greek government had managed to get the refugee crisis under control. Thanou stressed that the problem was a European one and had to dealt collectively by the EU member-states. On his part, Commissioner Avramopoulos said the interim Greek government had brought the problem to the center of attention from the moment it came to power.