“Greece’s support to Ukraine will continue”
The position of Greece within the Alliance in relation to the major geopolitical developments – such as the situation in Ukraine – but also in relation to the Greek-Turkish course, was presented in detail by the Minister of National Defence, Nikos Panagiotopoulos, at the meeting of the special group for the Mediterranean and the Middle East of the NATO parliamentary assembly, held in the Hellenic Parliament.
The minister highlighted the strategic directions of the government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis for the consolidation of peace, security and stability in the Eastern Mediterranean and the wider region.
He underlined Greece’s contribution to the effort to help Ukraine after the Russian invasion and presented the geostrategic importance of Alexandroupoli, both for NATO and the US, after its upgrade to a versatile military and humanitarian material storage center.
“Tensions will decrease if Turkey’s aggressive rhetoric ceases”
“Our desire,” he said about Greek-Turkish, “is to work on a level of understanding and reduce tensions. Tensions are a bad thing for both countries, but also for the cohesion of NATO, especially in the southeast wing, especially in this specific geopolitical situation.”
“A basic condition,” he said, “is to eliminate aggressive rhetoric, hostile language towards a friend and ally in NATO, and some direct, direct violations of our territorial sovereignty. I am referring to the most serious of these overflights of Turkish aircraft over Greek territory.”
“I have,” he added, “an open channel of communication, a good personal relationship with my counterpart, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar.”
“We must come to an agreement, but with specific conditions and this is good not only for the two countries, it is also the desire of the two peoples,” he pointed out.
“We will continue the support to Ukraine”
He underlined that “what we are all doing right now in Ukraine is also very important” while adding: “I believe it is time to articulate a strong “no” to any revisionism, any expansionism, any attempt or ambition to violently change the borders in Europe, but also anywhere”.
He also noted that “the preservation of the unity of the West and the unconditional support of Ukraine in the face of Russian blackmail for energy strangulation of Europe, as well as indirect threats to use nuclear weapons, are an absolutely critical parameter for a happy outcome in the Ukrainian drama , as the Alliance must prove to Moscow that our long-term endurance is greater than theirs.”
He stressed that Greece condemned “unequivocally the unjust and impermissible invasion, we participated in all the sanctions packages against Russia despite the significant impact suffered by our national economy, shocks from them by the sanctions packages”.
The country, the minister added, among other things, “provided and continues to provide humanitarian aid to the Ukrainian people as well as substantial military aid to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.”
“Greece”, he added, “within such a fluid security environment makes every effort to protect its sovereignty and sovereign rights. But also to become a security provider for the wider region”.
“In this direction, and especially in the last three years, the government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis has undertaken enormous efforts based on two pillars: The first pillar is the strengthening of our Armed Forces. The second is the expansion of the network of international alliances with the intensive promotion of defense diplomacy” continued N. Panagiotopoulos.
And he explained: “Regarding the first pillar, Greece aims to create a strong, efficient and fully equipped Armed Forces both to prevent existing and emerging threats as well as revisionist trends and for the country’s active participation in its security structures and mechanisms NATO”.
And “as for the second pillar, our country is leading the way in promoting Defense Diplomacy by signing military agreements with countries such as the United States of America, France, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.”
He reminded that Greece “contributes decisively to maintaining the particularly increased level of ambition, the “level of ambition”, of the alliance by allocating 3.7% of the GDP for defense spending in the past year, as well as by channeling 37% from this defense expenditure on research, development and procurement of new weapons systems’.
For the port of Alexandroupoli he clarified that, among other things, “intensifies the allied footprint in the wider region ensuring peace and stability, but also deterrence”.
As he added, the port “acquires a special strategic interest for the Alliance, since from there it becomes easier to transport troops to the difficult area, that is, the border with Ukraine.”
“The extension of the fuel pipeline to Alexandroupolis in the first phase and perhaps subsequently to Ukraine and Romania, will support possible allied operations with fuel” N. Panagiotopoulos pointed out.
The meeting was attended by the MPs Spilios Livanos, head of the Greek delegation and vice-president of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, Manousos Voloudakis, vice-president of the special group and chairman of its work and Andreas Loverdos, member, as well as parliamentarians from the 30 countries – members of the Parliamentary Assembly of NATO.
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