ATHENS, March 2 Xinhua) -- The demonstration of solidarity with refugees and migrants will remain at the core of the Greek Migration Policy Ministry, Dimitris Vitsas said on Friday as he took over the portfolio following a mini cabinet reshuffle.
During a handover ceremony the former Alternate Minister of National Defense stressed that he will follow in the footsteps of his predecessor Yannis Mouzalas.
"There is no text book (on how to manage an unprecedented refugee crisis). The situation is even more difficult in a country which in my point of view was caught unprepared. We had to experiment many times," Vitsas told Xinhua and other media during a press briefing, commenting on the collaboration of the Greek Defense Ministry with the Migration Policy Ministry from the start of the crisis in early 2015.
Many reception facilities which housed dozens of thousands of refugees and migrants were established on former military camps with the support of the Defense Ministry.
More than one million people landed on Greek shores and continued their journey to other European countries before the closure of borders on the Balkan route during the peak of the crisis.
More than 60,000 remain stranded in Greece after the implementation in March 2016 of the EU-Turkey deal aimed to stem the refugee flows.
The conditions for refugees have improved in the past two years, but much remains to be done and European unity and a common course are needed, Vitsas and Mouzalas stressed.
"We all have to stick to our humanity first of all. This is the fundamental issue here. There will be no major changes in the ministry's policy in general, because this is the government's policy," the new minister said.
"At the end of the day we made it... We implemented a rule which in my opinion is the rule which helped our country and refugees and migrants, and is the key also for the future. We tried to achieve a balance of rights," Mouzalas said, explaining that this way xenophobic reactions were the exception and Greek society embraced the people in need.
Mouzalas thanked in particular the European Commission for its contribution to efforts to forge a common stance and support countries of first reception despite xenophobic rhetoric in some European countries.
"We want a Europe which will be able to act based on the humanitarian principles united and not divided in a thousand pieces with one turning against the other," he added.
The change of guard at the Migration Policy Ministry came as Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras proceeded to a mini cabinet reshuffle on Wednesday following the resignations of two ministers earlier this week. The key posts in the cabinet's core remained unchanged.
The six new ministers were sworn in on Thursday during a ceremony at the Presidential mansion and assumed office Friday.
