- Published: 02.10.2015.
Prime Minister Milanovic believes Merkel will have to talk with Greece again
Prime Minister Milanovic has said in an interview with the BBC that he hopes that Germany will find a solution to the refugee crisis, and stressed that the developments might make Chancellor Angela Merkel hold a new round of negotiations with the Greek government on the Schengen rules.
"What harbours my hopes strongly is the case that it is Germany that is by far most-affected, so they are going to find a solution, but it is going to cost Angela Merkel not only money but, I am afraid, another round of talks with the government in Athens," Milanovic said in the interview published on Friday.
"This is deliberate, let's face it, one country is disrespecting or not respecting the rules of Schengen which might be easily respected with a pinch of will, without violence, without resorting to anything inhumane", the Croatian premier said.
"It will create much better image than barbed wire".
As for Hungary's plans to erect fence on its frontier with Croatia, Milanovic said that "on the green land border between Croatia and Hungary with stretches along hundreds of miles, it is nasty and inefficient. So there is no point in talking about closing the border." He added that people would always find ways how to circumvent such barriers.
He reiterated his opinion that the problem should be tackled "at its root cause" and it was in Turkey.
Turkey is "wholly legitimately trying to dispose of a number of people. Two million, it is a lot. We should have approached Turkey earlier with money and respect, we didn't. Maybe, it is not too late. But Greece is the first Schengen country and it could't care less."
Asked about his views on airstrikes that Russia has recently started in Syria, Milanovic responded that "They (Russia) took a strategic lead", and that "the Russians are apparently targeting everybody and are serving as the protector of (Bashar Hafez) al-Assad".
He also described the airstrikes as "a completely new element in the equation."
Asked by the BBC reporter if it was a "worrying element", Milanovic answered: "I don't know. This might bring (the) conflict to the end earlier, because it has been going on for too long, very long, and without any glimmer of hope until recently. So if this is a glimmer of hope, and if we put aside the risks posed by the Russian presence there and their sorties and airstrikes which are increasing, and increasing also the risk of collision with Americans, which wouldn't be good, and if we put that aside those risks, and if this helps to annihilate the foe, and this is exactly what we are talking about here, so better." He added that those developments could facilitate the return of refugees to Syria.
Milanovic admitted that it might be pragmatic at this moment to reckon on Asad as a possible factor in the entire process. "We might be forced to count with Assad," as a possible factor in the entire process for some time, Milanovic said, among other things.
(Text: Hina)