Voridis sparks outrage with ‘sink the boat’ remark in Parliament

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Specifically, Voridis intervened in the debate on the new pact by asking far-right parties: ‘Should we have the new Migration Pact or sink the boat?’

At the same time, he referred to the policy of ‘deterrence’, saying: ‘Deterrence, if I have land borders, is carried out with the fence. If I have sea borders close to the coast, it is carried out in consultation with the port authorities. We did these things. Can you say what happens if we have 300 kilometres of sea?’

The question drew an immediate reaction from PASOK parliamentary spokesperson Dimitris Mantzos, who said: ‘We cannot hear here whether the boat should sink. The question is unacceptable. It offends the rule of law. Parliament cannot be asked whether we will sink a boat.’ He described New Democracy’s stance as a ‘far-right rhetorical wall’.

Responding to the backlash, Voridis argued: ‘What I said was whether one prefers to have a new Pact or sink a boat. I mentioned it as a dilemma for discussion and not as a position.’ He added that this was ‘comparative reasoning and not a real choice’.

He later added: ‘The reference I made regarding deterrence measures cannot be distorted’ and said that ‘what I said is that we cannot say that boats are sinking’, concluding that the government’s policies are necessary for deterrence.

New Democracy parliamentary spokesperson Dimitris Kairidis responded: ‘You cannot understand that either. Makis Voridis attempted to expose the unarmed far right. What are they telling us? That 200 kilometres from Libya, what should the Coast Guard do? That is the question.’

At the same time, he argued: ‘Why is it so difficult for you to recognise an undeniable reality in the effectiveness of a combined policy on migration?’

He continued cynically: ‘Today, there are 260 residents in the Lesvos facility. In 2019, we received the disgrace of Moria with 24,000 residents. We are at 1% of what we had in 2019 on the island. This is a huge reduction that shows the success of a combined policy by the government and Europe.’

At another point, he said: ‘Alexis Tsipras was the first to make an agreement for extraterritorial asylum examination,’ adding that the Geneva Convention ‘was signed for the protection of those persecuted by communism’.

Reactions from KKE, SYRIZA and Course of Freedom

Greek Communist Party (KKE) parliamentary spokesperson Nikos Karathanasopoulos responded: ‘You are deeply ahistorical when you say that the Geneva Convention was created to protect people from the Soviets. The Soviets pioneered the Geneva Convention to protect people. The revision of history is a very serious matter. The people are stubborn and do not accept your anti-communism.’

From SYRIZA, Christos Giannoulis commented: ‘Do not be afraid, Mr Kairidis, the reshuffle has taken place, you have no place in the cabinet… Leave the anti-communist remarks aside.’ He added that Kairidis ‘should not be giving Mr Mitsotakis tests of anti-communist hysteria’.

From Course of Freedom, Alexandros Kazamias accused the government of being ‘deeply ahistorical when you say that the Geneva Convention was created to protect people from the Soviets’, saying such claims were ‘fairy tales to involve us in the Cold War wars that exist in your mind’.

He also argued that deterrence policies cannot be implemented ‘with brutal methods and at the expense of the rules of international law, with misanthropy’, and described ‘Return Hubs’ as ‘concentration camps in African countries that you envision but are no longer tolerable’.

At the same time, he accused New Democracy of representing ‘an extreme right-wing perception’, adding: ‘You would like to be more extreme right-wing, but it does not work for you. Today, that is where you are leaning.’

Voridis: ‘What I said is that we cannot say that boats are sinking’

Closing the discussion, Voridis returned to the issue, insisting that ‘the reference I made regarding deterrence measures cannot be distorted’ and that ‘what I said is that we cannot say that boats are sinking’. He concluded that the government’s policies are necessary and ‘make sense’ within the context of the new European framework.

Koutsoumbas: The pact is ‘inhumane and racist’

Greek Communist Party (KKE) general secretary Dimitris Koutsoumbas, speaking in Parliament, described the EU Migration Pact as ‘from the very beginning condemnable, inhumane, racist’, arguing that it forms part of a broader picture of war escalation.

He said the government has ‘involved the country in two bloody wars’ and added: ‘The consequences of the war escalation are being borne by the people… The top 1% own more wealth than the remaining 90% combined.’ He also noted: ‘The EU Pact on Migration and Asylum is an integral part of this big picture.’

He accused the government and the opposition of ‘obscuring the fact that the management of the migrant and refugee issue is deeply class-based and therefore racist’, stressing that there are no restrictions for the powerful: ‘For golden visas, for large investors and their families, no one needs to examine the source of their money… For them, there are no borders and strict controls.’

By contrast, he said, restrictive policies are implemented ‘for the poor, for the “wretched of the earth”’, while he described the ‘Return Hubs’ as ‘concentration camps in African countries that you envision but are no longer tolerable’.

Koutsoumbas also referred to the country’s involvement in war, saying Greece has become part of international conflicts and that Europe is moving towards policies linked to war preparations. He argued that the country is being turned into a ‘war base’ and spoke of ‘death bases’.

At the same time, he raised questions about the Pylos shipwreck, saying: ‘When will the trial begin? When will the guilty be punished? Finally give the specific answers that are required here and now.’