A Dutch journalist on Tuesday accused Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis of lying about pushbacks of migrants.
“Why do you lie about pushing back migrants,” Ingeborg Beugel asked Mitsotakis during a news conference with his Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte in Athens.
Beugel highlighted proofs of illegal pushback of migrants by the Greek side.
“Prime Minister Mitsotakis, when, at last, will you stop lying. Lying about pushbacks, lying about what is happening with the refugees in Greece?” she said.
She went on to say that this is “like narcissistic abuse.”
Mitsotakis refuted the allegations and said he could not accept “insulting him and the Greek people.”
He claimed that Greece has been saving the lives of thousands of migrants at seas.
“Rather than putting the blame on Greece, you should put the blame on those who have been instrumentalizing migration systematically pushing people in desperate situation from a safe country, —because I need to remind you that people in Turkey are not in danger— you should blame others, not us,” said Mitsotakis.
Beugel was accused of facilitating the illegal residence of immigrants in Greece for allegedly hosting a 23-year-old Afghan asylum seeker in her home, and the issue was brought to the Greek judiciary.
“In a little while here will appear Greek PM Mitsotakis and Dutch PM Mark Rutte. Both are co-responsible for pushbacks and refugees’ horror. I have the right to ask ONE question : WHICH QUESTION YOU WANT ME TO ASK THEM? PLEASE GIMME IDEAS!,” the journalist tweeted ahead of the news conference.
