A significant financial dispute between the Ministry of Migration and Asylum and the Municipality of Athens remains unresolved, according to statements made by Thanos Plevris, who took sharp jabs at Haris Doukas‘s stance. In an interview with SKAI TV, Mr. Plevris stated: “Since you’ll have Mr. Doukas as a guest later, I have a request – for 1.5 months now I’ve been trying to contact him, but the man doesn’t respond. I don’t know why, maybe he’s busy, but the reason is that there’s a financial disagreement between the ministry and the Municipality of Athens, and as a ministry we want to settle it.” He explained: “Since the time when Eleonas [refugee camp] existed, the Municipality of Athens incurred certain expenses which the Migration Ministry hasn’t paid yet. So for 40 days now I’ve been trying to communicate with Mr. Doukas’ office. We owe them money, and correspondingly the Municipality of Athens had received some funds which it didn’t utilize, and we want to resolve this difference.”
Plevris to Doukas: “I’ve approached his office institutionally, this isn’t about having tea together”
“I’ve approached his office institutionally. Mr. Doukas may personally dislike me, but I happen to be the Migration Minister and I’ve requested communication. This isn’t about having tea or coffee together. I have no issue with that. I respect the Mayor of Athens. He was elected mayor. But where we can solve problems, shouldn’t we solve them?” Mr. Plevris wondered.
Haris Doukas’ response
Immediately after taking the studio floor, the Athens mayor responded to Thanos Plevris’ accusations. “After the dynamic and unanimous ‘no’ from the Congress, I see great irritation. That’s what I understood from his statements. Mr. Plevris always chooses to divide through his statements, and I would invite him to the Literature Festival to listen to Lilian Thuram, a top footballer who wrote the book ‘White Thinking’ against racism, bigotry, and xenophobia, saying how important it is for societies to be open and for people to be able to communicate. And I think this is something Mr. Plevris doesn’t do, which is why we have a different stance. But today I saw greater annoyance because some considered us a ‘supplement’ and since yesterday, that’s over,” said the Athens mayor. He added: “We’ve been asking for this money for a very long time, even from the previous minister. I don’t know where he’s been looking for me for 1.5 months. My phone is open. There hasn’t been any phone call. Maybe he’s looking for someone else.”
