An international conference is being organized for the first time in Greece by the General Directorate of National Defense Policy and International Relations (GDPEADS) of the Ministry of National Defense, at the “Ypsgos (I) Nikolaos Sialmas” auditorium of the Ikaron School in Tatoi, on the topic of “Sustainable Development and Regional Integration of Mediterranean under the current context of challenges and threats to international security” (“Sustainable Development and Regional Integration in the Mediterranean within the Current Context of Security Challenges and Threats”).

The opening of the work of the conference, in which ambassadors and senior officials of 25 countries, senior officials of International Organizations, as well as high-ranking officials of the Armed Forces and the wider public sector are participating, was announced by the Deputy Minister of National Defense Nikos Hardalias.

A stable and prosperous Mediterranean, where natural resources are exploited in accordance with established international legal norms and where maritime trade is conducted freely and unimpeded has always been a priority for us” Mr. Hardalias pointed out, among other things, and added:

Today, unfortunately, we are far from our desired final destination in the Mediterranean. On the contrary, for some years now, we have been witnessing a series of serious threats evolving within and around it. These include ongoing hostilities on its shores, uncontrolled migration and refugee flows from Africa and Asia, which are often instrumentalized, and atrocities committed by extremist and dangerous non-state actors. The mix becomes even more dangerous if we take into account the strategies used by proponents of ideologies belonging to history’s closet, such as ahistorical libertarianism and revisionism, daily disregard for International Law, including the Law of the Sea, illusions that “gunboat diplomacy” and threats of war are viable alternatives to the entrenched norms of the international legal order, as well as a sense of grandeur».

He stated that the response to difficult dilemmas and challenges security of our time is based on three pillars: peace through superior power, deterrence through strong alliances, and stability through the application of International Law.

These assumptions underline our strategic approach as a whole and serve as the basis of our efforts to create a secure Mediterranean, which will be a bridge of peace between different cultures and an avenue for conducting trade, rather than a field of tensions and transnational rivalries” noted the Deputy Minister of National Defense and concluded:

I believe that the result of more than three and a half years of a bold and confident foreign and defense policy, which is based on these principles, is absolutely clear: Greece, which has always been the last outpost of the West to the East, is now a pivotal factor in everything the defense and security issues in the Eastern Mediterranean, as well as in the Balkans and the Black Sea region. And I can assure you that we are still at the beginning».

The opening and the proceedings of the first day of the international conference were attended by the Minister of Shipping & Insular Policy Yiannis Plakiotakis, the Vice-Chief of the General Directorate of Naval Operations Vice-Admiral Frangiskos Leloudas as the representative of the Commander of the Naval Directorate of Naval Aviation, the Commander of the General Directorate of Naval Aviation Vice-Admiral Themistocles Bourolias, Rear Admiral Ioannis Pattas as the representative of the Commander-in-Chief of General Aviation, Brigadier General Dimitrios Petroulias as the representative of the head of the GES, the ambassadors of France, Estonia, Cyprus, Libya, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, the general director of European Union Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Leonidas Rokanas, high-ranking officials of the Egyptian embassies , of Armenia, Austria, France, the United Kingdom, Israel, Ukraine, Spain and Romania, the president of the executive committee of the foundation of the Hellenic Parliament, Evanthis Hatzivasiliou, the president of the “Ekaterini Laskaridis Foundation” rear admiral e .t. Panos Laskaridis, the general director of GDPEADS Dr. Konstantinos Balomenos, the honorary head of the GEN admiral e.a. Stylianos Petrakis officers of the Armed Forces and the Security Forces etc. A videotaped message was sent by the Minister of Defense of Cyprus Charalambos Petridis.

The international conference ends on February 24th.