In a statement on his arrival at the Special European Council here on Thursday, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said he was confident that EU leaders will finally reach agreement on migration and funding for Ukraine, while supporting proposals for a delay in fallow land rules.
“Today’s Special European Council is taking place for one reason only; because at the last European Council in December, one country, Hungary, did not allow us to reach the necessary unanimity in order to agree on a revision of the Multiannual Financial Framework and to the granting of significant financial aid to suffering Ukraine,” he said.
“I am optimistic that at this European Council, the 27 states will finally reach an agreement that will provide solutions to this very important problem that we face,” he added. “It is very important that we are able to unlock additional funds from the multiannual financial framework in order to support the countries being tested by the refugee crisis but at the same time ensure the necessary funding for Ukraine, which is fighting an existential battle for its freedom….one way or the other, we are determined to find a solution today,” he said.
The prime minister also referred to the protests by farmers in several European countries, including that in Brussels, noting that Greece had from the first supported the European Commission’s proposal for delaying fallow land rules for cultivated land on a European level.
“If we proceed in this direction, additional land for cultivation will be released so that our farmers have additional income, both from the sale of products and from the associated subsidies. Beyond that, I will repeat what I said yesterday: that the Greek state, within the framework of its fiscal capacity, stands next to the primary sector. As it has done for the past four and a half years, so we will continue now, so that to the extent that this is possible we can support the just demands of our farmers and livestock breeders,” Mitsotakis said.
SOURCE; ANA-MPA
