Ieronymos: EU must show responsible stance in migration crisis
Greece’s Archbishop Ieronymos on Thursday expressed his “deepest sorrow” over the destruction of the Moria migrant camp on Lesvos and called on the European Union to respond more effectively to a new migration crisis.
“It is time for the European Union to assume its responsibilities and contribute effectively to the safeguarding and protection of its own eastern borders, always with respect for the value and dignity of each individual,” Ieronymos said.
“Our Church stands, as always, by the side of the competent and responsible Greek state and puts its services and bodies at its disposal for whatever is required,” the archbishop said, adding that the church’s mission has always been to “stand beside every persecuted individual, every weak fellow human being, every refugee.”
Ieronymos also referred to a “devious plan for unacceptable, immoral and inhuman weaponization and exploitation of desperate refugees and migrants,” with all that this entails for the country’s national security, and hit out at Turkey for increasing tensions in the Aegean with its multiple transgressions.
