“I aspire to the next four to five months, all the competitions have been announced in terms of Ministry of Shipping and Port Body. I promised and made my commitment to our fellow citizens and of course to the Prime Minister, that they will be done at AIGIS, which is the largest competition program in Civil Protection in the country’s history. We will break the bureaucracy in the new programs. We aspire to do the same for the Coast Guard and the Ministry of Shipping, with monitoring and control systems of our maritime borders in the eastern Aegean and under Crete, with 18 boats for the port, as well as new technologies of digitization of the Port Authority, ” Vassilis Kikilias.
Asked about the migratory flows, Mr Kikilias told SKAI that in terms of the eastern Aegean there is now a very large organization and cooperation with the other side and the humanitarian part with the bailouts and the guarding of the maritime border.
As he said, “the new challenge is in an open sea, in the Libyan Sea, where unfortunately, flows and modern smugglers have turned their activity there. You see that we made bold decisions and many times, harsh decisions. Now, anyone who comes in illegally from North Africa to Gavdos, Crete, Karpathos, and so on, is obliged to understand and know that it is incarcerated in a closed Center of Prophet. or prisons, until he decides to go back to his country. It is another refugee, it is another care of wars and support for people in need, unaccompanied women, children etc and other young people from 20 to 30 years old, systematically channeled through Libya and wanting to pass to our country. “
Staying in the same field, he stressed that “when a state wants to protect its borders and protect its citizens, it can do so. It’s not an easy story in the sea. We are determined. We have marine borders and we want to protect both our cities and our islands and our maritime borders and is our obligation of Europe. It is European borders, it is a common effort. The minister went and went again, Mr. Gerapetritis below Libya, and the Minister of Immigration went. I understand and reiterate that it is a difficult story, Libya is a dissolved and multipurpose country. There are problems in the surrounding area, but we have an obligation. We will serve this obligation, as we serve the country. “
Referring to the two incidents with disabled and with a person with cardiac problems that occurred in the previous days, he made it clear that the ministry’s intervention was immediate, noting that such an incident was on the same ship and last summer. “In both incidents and either the attendant did not want, as it was a ferry and a short distance of 35 minutes, either neglected the crew, or the master, etc., in any case and first of all for security reasons, it is forbidden and is not allowed to remain in a garage during a trip. Second, these images are unthinkable. Thirdly, these thousands of euros in the fine will be paid by everyone – the company, the master and anyone else involved in such incidents. I have explained that respect for human life and human dignity is above all. And I do not accept any discounts on such issues from anyone and for no reason. “
In closing, he clarified that in the large modern ships of ferry, which make the ferry connections to the Cyclades, the Dodecanese, and so on, there are now electric lifts, elevators and all the conditions, while on the small ships, there are no more open ships. “However, because a presidential decree is being prepared and we are working on the three – ESAA, with SEEN, the Federation of Shipping and the Ministry of Maritime – one that we announced 300 million euros and the effort to renew the ferry fleet is. It will be properly studied, since, these people have the right and first, to enter a ship ship and have their place, with easy access, but also to leave a ship. For these small boats, we will have to go to other solutions. “