Former Greek foreign minister warns against using warships to block migrants
International humanitarian law forbids pushbacks, notes Dimitris Avramopoulos
ATHENS
A former Greek foreign minister has criticized the government’s plan to deploy warships off the Libyan coast to prevent migrants from reaching Greece.
“There is international humanitarian law, and pushbacks are illegal,” said Dimitris Avramopoulos, who also served as EU commissioner for migration, in an interview with ActionTV 24. “I don’t know if deploying a fleet will be effective.”
“If you intercept a boat and there’s an accident, the country will be condemned,” he added.
Avramopoulos recalled the 2023 shipwreck off the Peloponnese coast, in which around 560 migrants are believed to have drowned.
“If we have another Pylos, we will be held accountable,” he warned.
Instead, he said, the government should focus on building specialized reception centers where asylum applications can be processed systematically.
He also urged the government to align its migration policy with broader EU strategies, rather than pursuing a unilateral national approach.
On Monday, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced that Greece would deploy navy vessels off the Libyan coast to curb a recent surge in migrant arrivals.
