According to Article 95(3)(b) Asylum Code, the personal interview may be conducted by Asylum Service or EUAA personnel or, “in particularly urgent circumstances”, by trained personnel of the Hellenic Police or the Armed Forces.605 With regard to the possibility of personnel of the Hellenic Police or Armed Forces to conduct personal interviews, Amnesty International has underlined that the application of such provision “would be a serious backward step that will compromise the impartiality of the asylum procedure”.606 As of 2024, the Hellenic Police or Armed Forces have not carried out personal asylum interviews, however, they did undertake the full registration of asylum applications in certain circumstances. EUAA (former EASO)’s competence to conduct interviews was introduced by a legal amendment in June 2016, following an initial implementation period of the EU-Türkiye Statement, during which the exact role of the Agency’s staff and the legal remit of their involvement in the asylum procedure was uncertain. The EASO Special Operating Plans to Greece foresaw a role for EASO in conducting interviews (face-to-face and remote) in different asylum procedures, drafting opinions and recommending decisions to the Asylum Service throughout 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021. 607 A similar role is foreseen in the Operational & Technical Assistance Plan to Greece 2022-2024, including in the Regular procedure. 608 In practice, in cases where the interview is conducted by an EUAA Greek-speaking caseworker, the latter provides an opinion / recommendation (πρόταση / εισήγηση) on the case to the Asylum Service, which remains the competent authority for the issuance of the decision. The transcript of the interview and the opinion / recommendation are written in Greek. The issuance of an opinion / recommendation by EUAA personnel to the Asylum Service is not foreseen by any provision in national law and thus lacks a legal basis.609 Finally, a caseworker of the Asylum Service, without having had any direct contact with the applicant, e.g., to ask further questions, issues the decision based on the interview transcript and the opinion / recommendation provided by EUAA, without being bound by it. 610 During 2024, legal aid organisations operating in Lesvos observed a long-standing problem with asylum interview transcripts, which were often poorly written. This resulted in an inadequate, inaccurate or sometimes incomprehensible reflection of asylum applicants' claims. 611 Based on the observations of legal aid organisations, including GCR, in a number of cases, decisions were issued by RAOs and/or AAUs other than those where the interviews were conducted, operating supportively to the latter. In Lesvos, interviews are primarily conducted by employees of the RAO Lesvos. On rare occasions, interviews are conducted remotely, as in a recent case involving a young Egyptian asylum seeker. In this instance, the interview was conducted remotely by a handler from the RAO of Rhodes. However, the issuance and notification of the decision remain pending. In Samos, 90% of admissibility interviews are conducted remotely by caseworkers from Lesvos. Some interviews take place via phone calls. In Chios, admissibility interviews are conducted remotely by caseworkers from Lesvos through the EU Asylum Agency (EUAA). Some interviews are conducted by caseworkers of the local Asylum Office, while certain cases are referred to the Regional Asylum Office of Nikaia for the issuance of decisions.612 In 2024, in Lesvos, applicants continued to receive an invitation for their interview according to which they needed to present themselves before the RAO in Pagani area at the day of their interview at 7:00 am, without any information regarding the actual time that their interview was scheduled.613 In practice, this meant that there were many applicants that appeared before the RAO’s gate at 6:30 only to start their interviews at 12:00 or even at a later time, while waiting all these hours in an open-air space, often exposed to bad weather conditions. The situation is only slightly different when applicants are represented by a lawyer, who on his/her own initiative will contact the Asylum Service on the phone to confirm the time 605 606 607 608 609 610 611 612 613 Article 95(3)(b) Asylum Code. Amnesty International, Submission on the proposed changes to the Greek Law on international protection, 24 October 2019, available at: https://bit.ly/3oxyL5k. See, e.g., EASO, 2020 Operational & Technical Assistance Plan to Greece, 20 December 2019, available at: https://bit.ly/3Qhm0X3 p. 14. EASO, Operating Plan to Greece 2022-2024, 9 December 2021, available at: https://bit.ly/3uMYh9q, pp. 2021. Articles 60(4)(b) L 4375/2016 and 90(3)(b) only refer to the conduct of interviews by EASO staff. AIRE Centre, et al., Third party intervention in J.B. v. Greece, 4 October 2017, available at: http://bit.ly/2qSRxoU, pp. 10-11. Information acquired during Lesvos Legal Aid Working Group meeting, 3 September 2024. Minutes of Legal Aid Sub Working Group Meeting, 26 March 2024. For this issue, Lesvos LAsWG has addressed a letter to Lesvos RAO Administration, 5 December 2023. 121