President of Republic Prokopis Pavlopoulos stressed that cooperation for addressing the humanitarian crisis of war refugees should by no means cause discounts or concessions in terms of the sovereignty of the member states, sending in that way a clear message to European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Pavlopoulos made the following statement during a ceremony for the award of the Grand Cross of the Order of the Phoenix to the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Immigration and Asylum of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg Jean Asselborn.

Addressing Mr. Asselborn, Mr. Pavlopoulos underlined that “it is the combination of the just European law and the law of member states and respect for human rights that makes your presidency a rather important presidency and an example for the future and until that crisis ends, which should end with the consolidation of peace in the Middle East.”

He also noted that during the presidency of Mr. Asselborn the decisions taken “determined the conditions under which the member states and neighboring countries cooperate in order to be able to deal with the humanitarian crisis. That is, in a way that respects the European borders, which are the borders of member states as designated by them.”

Mr. Pavlopoulos also said that Greece awarded this medal, “because of his great contribution to dealing with this humanitarian crisis of war refugees in a manner which safeguards as much as possible the European Union and its borders, but also in a manner that respects the people, their values and, in particular, their human rights.”