The briefing of the Minister of Foreign Affairs to the National Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee of the Parliament
“Turkish provocation takes on new dimensions every day, with things that a few years ago would have been considered graphic or unimaginable, are part of the agenda of the neighboring country’s behavior,” the foreign minister emphasized Nikos Dendias during the “open” briefing of the National Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee of the Parliament regarding the current issues of Greek foreign policy.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs underlined that “times are difficult, the challenges are constant” and mockingly commented on the “Bahtseli Charter” which questioned the Greek sovereignty over half of the Aegean and Crete saying that “I will end up considering it a compliment to me that the Greekness of Corfu and Paxos!”.
He said that these unacceptable acts of Turkish provocation “we point out to our allies” and “we have made it absolutely clear that this behavior is not acceptable in any way”, adding that this pointing out to our partners is useful to do “so as not to there are illusions.”
The foreign minister also referred to his recent trip to Ukraine saying that “yesterday I was in Odessa to express Greece’s support to a city that is inextricably linked to our history, the Greek Revolution, but also to a city with a very major port that is critical to humanity’s food security.” I had, said Mr. Dendias, “the opportunity to meet members of the Greek community, both from Odessa and Greeks who left Mariupol. I assured them that our country will do everything possible to help the Greek community in Ukraine and of course I conveyed to them our common position, that the country always moves in accordance with international law and the international law of the sea. Respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of all states is for Greece the “Holy Gospel” of our foreign policy and it is the agenda with which we move for our candidacy to the UN Security Council.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs pointed out that “the geopolitical environment is changing rapidly” while he welcomed “the role played by the parties in supporting and promoting our national positions, countering the constant effort to tarnish the image of our country, defending our positions in various parliamentary forums, at the NATO Parliamentary Summit, at the Council of Europe, at the OSCE” and stressed that “your contribution is crucial. That is why I am asking you to continue your work.”
Responding to the representatives of the opposition parties who spoke about the lack of information from Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to political leaders on foreign policy issues, in contrast to the minister who regularly informs the Parliament Committee, he pointed out that “it is obvious that the presence of a minister and the actions he takes by informing the representatives of the parties are done in the name and by order of the head of the government”. “It cannot be done otherwise and it could never be done otherwise. And of course the way of perceiving a government is uniform” he added. He also rejected claims that “the patriotism of anyone from this government has ever been questioned,” saying: “We may have disagreements in handling, disagreements in passing specific legislation or treaties, but this government takes everyone’s patriotism for granted. Alas if it were otherwise – and for this reason the country’s prime minister has repeatedly stated the need for national harmony. And to be fair one should recognize that to a very large extent, despite the fact that we have gone through extremely difficult periods in terms of acrimony, the national parliamentary dialogue has been maintained at a level of seriousness and adequacy”.
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