Greek prime minister Costas Karamanlis hailed as a significant victory the European Council decision on June 19 to support a tougher line against illegal immigration, and to send a message to Turkey to uphold its end of a bilateral agreement with Greece on migrant repatriation.

Greece is among countries in the region for which illegal immigration is a pressing issue.

A poll published on June 21 said that close to one in five Greeks saw it as the most serious issue facing the country. In 2008, close to 150 000 illegal immigrants and 2000 people traffickers were arrested in Greece, and the tide – described in a headline in Greek newspaper Ethnos on June 21 as "a new tsunami of illegal immigration" continues to swell.

Two days after Greece got European Council backing, news broke that a Greek patrol had intercepted two dinghies carrying 80 illegal migrants on their way from Turkey.
Speaking on June 17, Greek foreign minister Dora Bakoyannis said that because of its position as an external border of the European Union, Greece was facing "increasing and disproportionate migratory pressure",

"One thing is clear: Genuine solidarity and fair burden sharing between member states is urgently needed in order to effectively tackle this common European challenge. Our strategy should pull several different levers including enhanced practical co-operation through the establishment the earliest possible of the European Asylum Support Office, strengthening FRONTEX and conducting joint operations on a permanent basis, concluding EU readmission agreements with key countries including of course our southern neighbour Turkey," she said.

Interviewed subsequently by Turkish television station TRT-Turk, Bakoyannis said: "Turkey has a very important role in Greece’s problem. Greece and Turkey have signed a Protocol. A Protocol on the readmission of migrants. What are we talking about here? We are talking about a large number of people – as many as 140 000 – who are on Turkey’s shores and are the victims of traffickers; that is, as abject as you can be in this world, and they are brought from Turkey to Greece.

"This is where the Protocol comes in. It says that when they are arrested in Greece, they must be sent back to Turkey. But Turkey does not accept them back on its territory, creating various obstacles to their readmission.

"What is the result of this? The result is that these traffickers are not deterred and essentially continue. There are so many economic migrants in Greece that it is impossible for Greece to manage them: Greece is a small country. But we have an obligation to the rest of Europe to guard our borders," Bakoyannis said.

The European Council said that there was a need for "significant strengthening" of co-operation with countries of origin and transit. "Concluding the negotiations on the EC readmission agreements with key countries of origin and transit such as Libya and Turkey is a priority; until then, already existing bilateral agreements should be adequately implemented," the European Council said.

The European Commission is to come up in the next few weeks with an emergency plan to cope with the inflow of illegal immigrants.
"Recent events in Italy, Malta, Cyprus and Greece are proof of the need to increase efforts to prevent and combat illegal immigration within the southern borders of the EU, thereby avoiding tragedies," according to the European Council resolution.

Karamanlis welcomed the decision as meaning that the problem was being regarded as one at EU level. Similarly, Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi said that the European Council decision was an acknowledgement that the problem was one facing all of Europe.

The European Council move was reported to have offended Turkey and was suggested as among the "real reasons", Turkey’s Hurriyet said, why prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a last-minute cancellation of a trip to Athens for the opening of the New Acropolis Museum (the official reason was that he had sunstroke).
Greek insistence has resulted in the issue of the inadequate implementation of the repatriation agreement being incorporated into EU-Turkish negotiations.

Greece, meanwhile, is taking steps at domestic level, and is not alone. Athens-based daily Kathimerini said that an amendment to legislation was being planned to allow the deportation of foreigners without trial if they were deemed "dangerous for public order and safety", a measure that the newspaper said worried human rights activists.
In Cyprus, a bill has been tabled in parliament to penalise anyone convicted of renting or offering accommodation on contract to an illegal immigrant to face a fine of up to 4000 euro and/or 18 months in jail, the Cyprus Mail said.

Malta, also hard hit by illegal immigration, welcomed the European Council stand, which includes a pilot project against illegal immigration for Malta.
Speaking after the European Council decision, European Commission President Jose Barroso said he was pleased at the progress on proposals to combat illegal immigration, especially in the Mediterranean region.

"We need a determined European response based on fairness, solidarity and shared responsibility," Barroso said.