The Deputy Minister of Interior Leonidas Grigorakos has called for all political parties to “contribute creatively” to the upcoming discussion in Parliament regarding the new Immigration Code.
According to Mr. Grigorakos, the new Code will cut red in citizenship procedures, which in turn will allow thousands of migrant workers in Greece to travel to other EU member states in search of employment. Additionally, the long-term residence permits will allow the Greek-born children of migrants to decide whether to accept Greek citizenship or not when they turn 18.
Regarding the right to vote in local government elections, Mr. Grigorakos admitted that “since they have legal rights, I believe that they must vote. We will truly make an effort to reduce to a bare minimum the number of people who don’t have a right to vote, with respect of course to the State Council’s decision”.
Data submitted in Parliament by the Deputy Minister state that there are 473,424 legally-residing immigrants n Greece, 232,000 of whom are bsed in Attica, Thessaloniki and Halkidiki. If the new Code is ratified, then a further 33,000 will receive residence permits.
