Our guest blog post today is from Erika Angelidi, the Conservatives Abroad Representative in Greece, and represents her personal point of view.
« Only a united European Union may successfully address its shared problems »
I begin with this phrase as I believe that this thought is no less than the cornerstone in debating and solving all of the ?ld continent?s issues?
During the last months a relatively new issue has arisen: it is the massive illegal entry of paperless immigrants from Syria (and other countries currently at war in the Middle East) into the EU mostly through the Greek borders. Unfortunately, along with people stricken by such great misfortune, there has been an inflow of criminal elements, as has been recently proven. The gist of addressing this problem lies in the decisive help stemming from common EU efforts regarding the safeguarding and adequate patrolling of the Greek sea borders. One may not forget that the Greek borders are the European Union?s borders to the East.
Due to the current financial situation, it may be noted that Greece has not adequate means to deal with such a massive phenomenon by safeguarding its borders. In addition to this, the problem also lies in creating data bases with the incoming immigrants, their origin and goal country in order to capture the true dimensions of the existing situation. To this end, and to being able to monitor fake passports or other legal documents, high-tech equipment and special training is required. Another idea that has been presented is to offer motivation to those contemplating immigration, either in their own countries or even other, financially robust Arabic countries, where the adaptation would be much quicker and efficient due to the common culture, religion, language and customs.
This is an issue that will be on top of the European agenda for a long time to come. Politicians need to make appropriate and correct long-term decisions in order to establish a somewhat lost sentiment of security and peace with regards to the average citizen. At the same time, decent and sanitary life conditions ought to be secured for immigrants in the receiving countries. Lastly, it is to be noted that we ought not to forget that the nature of this issue is political and economical and that for answers and solutions we must go to its very root?. (to be continued)
Erika Angelidi
Conservatives Abroad Representative, Greece