The following excerpt was originally published on the website of Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe on 6th March 2020

ATHENS, 6 March 2020 – International humanitarian law must be respected in the response to the situation on the borders between Turkey and Greece, said OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Special Representative on South East Europe Mark Pritchard (MP, United Kingdom) wrapping up a three-day official visit to Athens today.

“We in the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and the broader international community are following the situation on the Turkish-Greek borders very closely indeed,” Pritchard said. “I commend the Greek people and the Greek government for responding to the situation with restraint and encourage the continuation of cross-party dialogue and convergence.”

He added that Europe needs to accept responsibility in assisting Greece at this critical moment, with an emphasis on tangible burden-sharing beyond financial solidarity. “This is not only a Greek emergency,” Pritchard said. “It’s a collective one. Collective emergencies and challenges demand collective responsibility. The recent high-level EU visit needs to have tangible and practical outcomes.”

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