By: George Wilson| tovima.gr | 9 November 2021|
Rutte defends Mitsotakis, Greek government after Dutch journalist’s attack on PM over push-backs
Α joint news conference with visiting Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis today became explosive when a Dutch journalist unleashed an ad hominem attack on the Greek PM over charges that Greece engages in push-backs of refugees and migrants coming to Greece from the coasts of Turkey.
Ingeborg Beugel, the reporter (photo) for De Groene Amsterdammer (The Green Amsterdammer), an influential weekly publication regarded as leftist, said that the PM should stop “lying about pushbacks” and “insulting the intelligence of all the journalists in the world”, and accused him of “narcissistic abuse” and “cruel, barbarian pushbacks”.
In a tweet before the presser, Beugel tweeted: «In a little while here will appear Greek PM Mitsotakis and Dutch PM Mark Rutte. Both co responsible for pushbacks and refugees horror. I have the right to ask ONE question : WHICH QUESTION YOU WANT ME TO ASK THEM? PLEASE GIMME IDEAS!»
Mitsotakis replied that his government has a “tough but fair policy on migration” that is in line with EU regulations, and that the Greek Coast Guard has saved “hundreds if not thousands of lives” in the Aegean.