Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis expressed skepticism about the Italy-Albania migration deal in an interview with the Financial Times published on Thursday.
Mitsotakis said it remains to be seen whether the agreement will be effective and expressed doubts about its potential to be replicated at the European level.
“Let me be careful here. This is a bilateral agreement. I don't know if it can be repeated at the European level," he said. "We also need to see if it really works."
"These people are processed under Italian asylum legislation and whatever happens to them, one way or another they will return to Italy. If we were to do this at the European level… where would they go?” he added.
The Greek Prime Minister also said that the European Union should create legal pathways for immigrants and asylum seekers.
"If you want to build a big fence, you also need a big gate," he said.
Mitsotakis will attend the European Council summit in Brussels, where migration is expected to be one of the main issues on the agenda.