So far, there does not appear to be any difference in migratory flows to Greece due to the military conflicts in the Middle East, but if the crisis persists and conditions of force majeure arise, then the government will take tougher measures than those of last summer, stated the Minister of Migration and Asylum, Thanos Plevris, during his speech at the 1st Blue Heritage Summit Thessaloniki, organized by the BeyondCSR organization, under the auspices and support of the Ministry of the Interior (Macedonia and Thrace Sector).

“It is obvious that if we find ourselves in such situations of instrumentalization of migrant flows, there is always the factor of force majeure, which we experienced last summer when we suspended asylum—obviously, the suspension of asylum under International Law is not the norm—but it is also not normal for a minister, a prime minister, to see that in three days 3,000–3,500 people arrive and thousands are waiting on the coasts and to say that I will monitor the phenomenon,” said Mr. Plevris.

“Therefore, if we find ourselves in such situations, it is certain that the measures we will take will be tougher than those of the previous summer. We hope we do not find ourselves in this situation, and we always pay attention to the war as it is shaping up, because it is absolutely understandable that if it continues, we will experience new flows like those we experienced several years ago, because there will also be a entrenched situation,” the minister pointed out.

Significant reduction in flows from Turkey

He emphasized that there has been a significant reduction in flows from Turkey. “Regarding the part concerning the country’s borders with Turkey, at this moment we are perhaps at the lowest flows,” he said, explaining that “discussing that flows from Turkey are at 20,000 per year is really very small flows,” because as he mentioned, in 2024 the flows from Turkey to the Greek islands were 48,000 and 2025 closed with 21,000 flows.

“Therefore, we consider that the islands at this moment are shielded both in terms of deterrence, always within the framework of International Law, which is carried out by the Coast Guard, in the context of border guarding, but also in the context of management with the structures that exist there and are fully organized with plenty of positions,” said Mr. Plevris.

Main problem is the flow from Libya

He noted that the main problem is the flow from Libya and stated the following: “Our main problem at this moment is a new flow that has been created in the last two years and is in reality Libya, where mainly people from Sudan are displaced in Egypt (1,500,000 people), in Chad (1,000,000) and in Libya (500,000) and their total number amounts to 3,000,000.”He described the migrant pool in Libya as “worrisome,” because, as he said, this pool is also combined with flows that do not justify asylum, such as from Bangladesh and Egypt.He stressed that the government’s policy in recent years has been successful and migrant flows were reduced from 62,000 in 2024 to 48,000 in 2025.

“It is a very big mistake to discuss that the demographic issue will be solved with migrants”

Mr. Plevris referred to the new Migration Law and the Migration Pact that will be implemented from June 12.Responding to criticisms received by the government’s migration policy, he noted: “This policy is criticized for not being humanitarian. You know, humanitarianism always has a realism too. The logic of ‘open the borders, we are waiting for you, we greet you and you pass’ essentially means the end of Europe. Personally, I believe it is a very big mistake to discuss that when we have low demographic indicators, this will be solved with migrants. No, the demographic problem is not a numerical problem. It cannot be a country’s policy choice to replace population in order to solve the demographic issue. And this was shown by countries that tried to do it. This model failed in Europe. The model that Europe must follow is the one that the European People’s Party has been saying from the beginning: Asylum to those who are entitled to it, closed borders to those who are not entitled to asylum and returns, either voluntary or forced deportations, and at the same time, rational, documented entry routes through the legal path so that a balance can function.

“Koumoutsakos: I am extremely satisfied with what I heard about the government’s migration policy

Immediately after the completion of Mr. Plevris’s speech, the attending former Deputy Minister of Migration and Asylum Giorgos Koumoutsakos (who was a speaker in a previous section) requested and took the floor out of program and observed: “I heard the government’s complete policy on Migration and I am extremely satisfied, I, a moderate, who used to say strict but fair policy.

“He emphasized that the issues raised by the Greek government in Europe during his tenure (2019-2021), submitting the anxiety, concern, fears, threats, matured five years later.

“This force majeure clause, when we submitted it after Evros, when we suspended the right to apply for asylum, which was beyond legal provisions, but we did it to show the Europeans that when Greece, which complies with International Law, is forced to exceed it, it means we are facing a vital problem. Then we told the Europeans that a force majeure clause must be included in the Pact. That is, when a state faces a situation beyond the normal, they cannot take us to the European Court precisely because we are facing an emergency situation. When this was heard, I remember the Migration Commissioner who almost fell under the table, and now it has been included,” he pointed out.

And addressing Mr. Plevris, he noted: “I am glad because the ground you walk on is more solid than what we had, but we built this as a government and all of us who handled it.”