Mouzalas denies he told Bild 'Europe needs a Plan B' if Turkey pulls out of migrant deal

In a press release sent by the ministry, when asked by the paper whether Europe needs to come up with a “Plan B” in case Turkey backs down from the EU-Turkey deal on the refugee crisis, following similar statements made by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Mouzalas answered:
“Greece is focused on the EU – Turkey Agreement, an agreement which is dependent upon the European support on the one side, and the obligation of Turkey to abide by what has been agreed on the other. Up to now the agreement has been kept. We have a refugee flow, which cannot be an indication of non-compliance. More precisely, the number of refugees arriving on the islands, some days is zero, some days is close to one-hundred. It is a number of people upon which we keep an eye one way or another.”
And continued: “But, as an example, I have to mention that the percentage of people (arriving) in relation to the same period last year is 95-97 percent reduced. Of course, we are following (the events) closely, of course we are worried, but up to now, I repeat, the number of people arriving on our islands is not an indication of non-compliance towards whatever has been agreed. The Greek government has informed in time all the European institutions about the dangers which are simmering after the recent developments in Turkey. The refugee issue, as the EU has officially accepted during this period of time, is a European problem and its solution is a European responsibility.”
Mouzalas also said the main issue is to put an end to the war. “From that point on, we, as the European Union, must support these countries which are close to those facing the problem. We have to contribute so that Jordan, Lebanon and other neighboring countries find themselves in a position to welcome and host refugees on their territories always in respect of human rights,” he said.
Apart from this, refugees coming from Turkey should be distributed in EU countries based on their population and other criteria, the minister told the paper. “The same should be applied for Greece, so that they are distributed in the EU countries proportionally.”
The sentence “we need in any case a Plan B” was not included in Mouzalas’ response, the ministry noted.