The foreign minister made special reference to the Bahtseli map, saying that the recent graphic, but no less dangerous, dispute over half of the Aegean and Crete is the latest in a series of outrageous claims.
Her grid Greek foreign policy the foreign minister unfolded Nikos Dendias inaugurating the “EKPA Days” institution, with the theme: “Greece in the vortex of International Developments“, held at the University of Athens. In particular, Nikos Dendias proposed as a compass for Greek foreign policy in its course on the international stage the principles and values that have governed it throughout time: the respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty of all stateshim respect for International Lawthe International Law of the Sea and International Humanitarian Law.
At the same time, the Minister of Foreign Affairs civilized the effort of forces of revisionismviolating the principles of International Law.
Outlining the foggy international context following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, he said that our country faces the main challenge of our neighbor to the east, Turkey. In fact, he recognized that what constitutes a different reality from other periods is the continuous and long-term aggravation. “No crisis has had this enormous duration that we are already approaching, if not already exceeding 3 years» he said characteristically.
He made special reference to Bahtceli map, saying that the recent graphic, but no less dangerous, disputing half of the Aegean and Crete is the latest in a series of outrageous claims.
Also, referring to the measurements inside Turkey, he found that the escalating rhetoric entrenches an anti-Hellenism in Turkish society. “If you saw a measurement of the Turkish society four years ago, Greece would not be ranked among the threats, as the Turkish citizen perceived the reality. Today it is ranked, and quite high, in the index” write down. It tends to create, as he added, a current and potentially a majority current of anti-Hellenism within Turkish society.
On the other hand, Nikos Dendias objectedGreece takes initiatives, builds or strengthens cooperation bridges, without falling into the trap of pursuing an exclusively Turkish-centric policy, reacting to everything the neighbor does, claims or invents. As he expressed the broader goal of Greek foreign policy, he said that it is the consolidation of peace, security and stability in our wider neighborhood, but also beyond it.
In this context, he repeated the analogy of foreign policy to the old circles of the Olympic Aviation logo, six intersecting circles. “In the first, we strengthen our bilateral relations with our European partners. Relationships that had been relatively neglected. The bilateral level is equally important and necessary and also the bilateral explanation is needed to find the necessary understanding of our positions in the countries participating in the EU. Of course, these relations with some and especially with the most militarily powerful EU member state , France, has acquired a strategic character and has been surrounded by the well-known defense agreementhe said.
Secondly, proposed relations with the USA. “We have made strengthening our relationship with the United States an absolute priority. Greek society reaps the rewards, both in terms of supporting our positions on issues of fundamental importance, from both the executive branch in the US, regardless of party, and the legislative branch, regardless of party». He also emphasized that “there is no yardstick to compare relations with the US to in the past, when, on the superpower’s side, balancing was its main concern». He recalled the anxious effort of our country to maintain the ratio of 7:10 in the first years after the Turkish invasion of Cyprus and urged for the comparison with today’s era, “in which Greece has access to any US system, and the F35, and Turkey is trying to achieve the upgrade of the old F16».
The third cycle concerns a zone of security and stability in the wider Middle East region, the Gulf and North Africa. He made special reference to relations with Egypt, “the closest relationships we had ever developedHe pointed out and also spoke about the relations with the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and most of the countries in the region. At the same time, he emphasized, “we are now present in the developments in Libya, but also in Syria” and highlighted the polymer shapes regional cooperation together with Cyprus, distinguishing as top the 3+1 cooperation scheme between Greece, Cyprus, Israel and the USA. “In all cases, we prefer the peaceful resolution of disputes on the basis of International Lawhe announced.
The fourth circle is likened to the Balkans, especially the Western Balkans. “The only way to achieve the stabilization of the region is their European perspective” he made it clear and added that Greece is making every effort, on a political and technical level, to achieve this.
The fifth circle corresponds to our country’s relations with emerging powers that have similar or similar positions to Greece, such as Japan and India, but also Vietnam, Australia and Indonesia. He announced that the last three countries are on the program of his visits in August and September.
Finally, the sixth circle refers to Africa, the continent with the greatest economic and population growth on the planet, as he said. He recalled that in the last seven months he has visited seven countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and that if the war in Ukraine had not intervened, he would have closed the circle of his 14 target countries.
In addition, he noted that Greece is conducting three campaigns within the framework of the UN. The first concerns the election to the UN Security Council for the period 2024-2025. “We already have 106 written supports“, he said and considered the election almost certain. The second campaign is for the Human Rights Council, expressing his optimism for this candidacy. Tuesday is the campaign for Greece’s election to the Presidency of the UN General Assembly in 2035.
At this point, he gleaned that the main element of Greek foreign policy is to highlight International Law, good neighborliness, respect for human rights as the main element of the presence of a modern country in the international arena.
Further, he made extensive reference to the international challenges posed by it Russian invasion of Ukrainereferring to the threat of a food crisis, “which comes to be added to energy, which already threatens economies and societies». According to Nikos Dendias, the food crisis and the crisis in the export of fertilizers can have devastating consequences for societies, cause social explosions, migration flows.
Referring to his visit to Odessa yesterday, the Foreign Minister pointed out that he met with members of the Greek community there as well as Greeks from Mariupol who have taken refuge in Odessa to avoid the tragic consequences of the Russian invasion.
Finally, regarding his visit to The Hague tomorrow to participate in a special event with other European countries on war crimes during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he emphasized that humanitarian law is an element of our ongoing political direction.
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