After a meeting convened under the auspices of the President of the Hellenic Republic, Prokopis Pavlopoulos, on Friday, 5 of the leaders of the 7 that participated have signed a common statement on the refugee crisis. The statement was not signed by the General Secretary of the Communist Party (KKE), Nikos Koutsoumpas and leader of the Union of Centrists party (Enosi Kentroon), Vasilis Leventis, who both disagreed with the handling of the crisis by Greek PM Alexis Tsipras, who earlier on Friday had made no distinction between refugees and illegal immigrants entering the country.

According to the statement, signed by: Greek MP Alexis Tsipras, President of New Democracy (Nea Dimokratia), Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Independent Greeks (ANEL) party leader, and current Defence Minister Panos Kamennos, Head of the Democratic Alignment (PASOK-DIMAR), Fofi Genimata, and Head of the party River (Potami) Greece will fully comply with its obligations stemming from the EU decisions and institutions, while showing a spirit of solidarity and humanity to the refugees. The statement goes on to affirm that while the Greek state is guarding the European frontiers in collaboration with Frontex, it aims to reinforce the European patrol unit and to push for its transformation into a European coast guard. It stresses that national borders should be respected, while adding that while Greece is cooperating with NATO, it is under the condition that Turkey also respects its responsibilities. The statement notes that Greece is strengthening the structures of refugee reception centers built in the country. The leaders in their common statement demand that the EU imposes on other EU member-states to respect their responsibilities on the matter, clearly referring to the anti-European stance taken by Austria by closing her borders. The EU should accelerate the process of relocation of refugees from Greece and Turkey, while Turkey should cut the refugee flows on her side while assuming the responsibility of creating a viable plan to transport refugees directly from Turkey to the European Continent. The EU should seriously consider that Turkey has yet to fulfill its obligations arising from the 2015 EU November Summit on the issue. The statement continues by stressing that the EU institutions should offer timely financial and material support to Greece, as the country is disproportionately feeling the brunt of the crisis. The Greek leaders call on the EU to assume a central role in pushing for a cessation of the war in Syria-the most important cause for the refugee crisis. Finally, the current circumstances demand the revision of the Dublin II accord on refugees.