Paris (AFP)

The new Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called on Thursday, being greeted by Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee, French investors to "seize the opportunities" offered by Greece with his new government.

"I call on French companies to participate in the growth surge and seize the new opportunities that are being created in Greece," Mitsotakis told reporters in the courtyard of the Elysee Palace.

For its first bilateral visit to France since its election on 7 July, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who will then travel to Berlin and The Hague, wants to convince its creditors, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, to ease budgetary constraints on Greece.

In exchange, the conservative prime minister promises that "Greece will be the pleasant surprise of the euro zone in the coming years," he said in an interview with Le Figaro.

To "return to growth", he undertakes to submit in September "a tax reform, which provides for the reduction of corporate tax from 28 to 24%" for "2019, then to 20% from 2021 ", as well as a reduction in the tax on dividends.

Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to the "courage" shown by the Greeks during the economic crisis and welcomed the common objectives with Mr Mitsotakis on the European agenda, and in particular for "an ambitious budget for the euro area".

On the issue of migration, he again regretted that "solidarity is still missing" between European countries in the distribution of migrants, deploring "unacceptable decisions still taken by some" countries, without mentioning a name.

For the Greek Prime Minister, "the burden must not be borne solely by the countries at the external borders of Europe".

As a first step, Greece, which is experiencing an acceleration of migrant arrivals, will change "its national asylum policy (...) by accelerating decision-making," he said in Le Figaro. "Those who obtain (the asylum) obviously have the right to stay in Greece, while those who do not qualify will have to return to Turkey", as provided for in the 2016 EU-Turkey agreement. he explains.

In early August, arrivals on the five Aegean islands close to Turkey - Lesbos, Samos, Chios, Kos and Leros - had increased by 17% in a few weeks, said in early August the minister responsible for migration policy, Giorgos Koumoutsakos.

Mr Macron also assured his host that "France and the EU will not show any weakness" in the face of Turkey's activities in the maritime economic zone of Cyprus, very close to Greece.

Turkey, whose army occupies the northern third of the island, opposes any exploration and exploitation of these resources that would exclude this part of Cyprus, where live the Turkish Cypriots.

© 2019 AFP