Diplomatic initiative to promote peace in the Middle East is undertaken by Greece, as announced on Tuesday by the Minister of Foreign Affairs George Gerapetritis presenting the Greek candidacy for the position of non-permanent member of the UN Security Council at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.

“Next week, we will go to Amman. I will personally go to Amman to negotiate with our Arab friends, and especially with the Foreign Ministers of Jordan and Egypt, who have taken the lead in the negotiations to find a peace formula. A week ago, we hosted the Emir of Qatar in Greece. Again, we wanted to try to promote peace in the Middle East. Therefore, we believe that Greece can become a pillar of stability, but also reinforce the idea that our wider region, which is currently in turmoil, will once again find the right balance. We also expect to have a substantial and important contribution to the Security Council,” he said.

“On the Middle East, we have taken a principled stand and have stated very strongly that the situation has become intolerable. That is why we fully support the plans for an immediate ceasefire and the release of the hostages and the vision of a two-state solution for the Palestinian people. And we are able to promote, to the extent of our powers, all peaceful formulas, because we are talking to our Arab friends and the Israelis. On many occasions, we have had the opportunity, precisely because we have these channels of communication, to convey to the Israelis that this situation, this nightmare must stop immediately. We are happy to say that in the last few days we have seen important peace plans from the side of President Biden as well,” emphasized Mr. Gerapetritis.

“It is an excellent honor for Greece, a small, medium-sized country, to be elected a member of the Security Council” the minister also emphasized.

“I would like to say that Greece is a country that is firmly based on International Law. We believe that the prevalence of International Law is a milestone for the progress of the world. We believe in the peaceful coexistence of nations and states. And for this reason we have used as our motto, the three D’s: Dialogue, Diplomacy and Democracy, which indicate precisely the need to discuss and be deliberative” he pointed out.

The introductory speech of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Giorgos Gerapetritis at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation

Thank you very much, dear Thomas. Thank you all for being here.

It is a great honor for me to be here with you and to address you, looking forward to our upcoming election to the United Nations Security Council. It is a great honor for Greece, a small, medium-sized country, to be elected a member of the Security Council. We look forward to cooperation, as well as coordination of our actions, so that we can provide added value to the Security Council.

It is true that our participation in the Security Council, if we are elected, coincides with difficult times of the post-war era, with two ongoing wars, which unfortunately constitute a particularly unfavorable situation, and other enormous universal challenges, the climate crisis, food insecurity, aggression internationally and geopolitical tensions. We all know that in the globalized world we live in today, maintaining peace and tranquility and promoting prosperity is everyone’s responsibility. It will be a difficult but very demanding period, however we are looking forward to it.

As you may know, Greece is one of the 51 founding members of the United Nations. In the past, we have been elected twice as non-permanent members of the Security Council, in 1952 and 2005, under better conditions, I dare say.

However, the bigger question is what a country like Greece could offer to the Security Council. First of all, I would like to say that Greece is a country firmly based on International Law. We believe that the prevalence of International Law is a milestone for the progress of the world. We believe in the peaceful coexistence of nations and states. And for this reason we have used as our slogan, the three D’s: Dialogue, Diplomacy and Democracy, which indicate precisely the need to discuss and be deliberative. Because I have to tell you that it is particularly disappointing, lately, that we seem to have lost our deliberative spirit. We do not discuss in a deliberative way. We see the emergence of intense extremism and unfortunately a lack of diplomacy. We must, indeed, review the principle of peaceful settlement of disputes, which is enshrined in the United Nations Charter, and see how we can give it meaning, because unfortunately it seems to have lost its meaning.

We are very keen to develop a new understanding of the observance of International Law and to exercise some kind of influence within the framework of the United Nations. The truth is that the United Nations and all other international organizations have been called upon to deal with many crises at the same time, without having modern tools at their disposal. We have seen on many occasions, not only within the United Nations, but also within the European Union, that we have had problems in reaching consensus, even on elementary issues. Therefore, we need to review and possibly reshape the decision-making process within the United Nations.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Greece is a powerful maritime nation. You know we have the strongest merchant fleet in the world. I believe that it is particularly important, in these times, to secure maritime security. We see how the situation in the Middle East is developing, putting maritime security at risk. We see the situation in the Red Sea and the dangers in the sea lanes. International trade must be conducted securely.

Greece is located in an area that is historically particularly burdened, at the crossroads of three continents, Europe, Asia and Africa. The Eastern Mediterranean has been the center of great civilizations, great conflicts and conquerors since ancient times.

Greece is also located on the Balkan Peninsula, a peninsula that has caused many conflicts in the past and unfortunately seems, even today, to suffer from many destabilizing factors. We are firmly of the opinion that the future of the Balkans, the Western Balkans, belongs to the European family and we are working very hard for it.

North of Greece are the Balkans. To the east, it is the Middle East, the Eastern Mediterranean and Turkey. South, we have Africa, Egypt, the Sahel – and we all know the situation there. We must try harder to create a more peaceful environment in the Sahel. I think it is important for a country like Greece to try to become the bridge between different nations, different states.

We aspire, if elected to the Security Council, to be the synthesis of South and North, West and East. We can do this because Greece has the privilege of talking with all its neighboring states. We are one of the few states that have good diplomatic relations with all major states, but also with all our neighboring states.

On the Middle East, we have taken a principled stand and have stated very strongly that the situation has become intolerable. That is why we fully support the plans for an immediate ceasefire and the release of the hostages and the vision of a two-state solution for the Palestinian people. And we are able to promote, to the extent of our powers, all the peace formulas, because we are talking with our Arab friends and the Israelis. On many occasions, we have had the opportunity, precisely because we have these channels of communication, to convey to the Israelis that this situation, this nightmare must stop immediately. We are pleased to say that the past few days have seen significant peace plans from President Biden as well.

Next week, we are going to Amman. I will personally go to Amman to negotiate with our Arab friends, and especially with the Foreign Ministers of Jordan and Egypt, who have taken the lead in the negotiations to find a peace formula. A week ago, we hosted the Emir of Qatar in Greece. Again, we wanted to try to promote peace in the Middle East. Therefore, we believe that Greece can become a pillar of stability, but also reinforce the idea that our wider region, which is currently in turmoil, will once again find the right balance. We also expect to make a substantial and important contribution to the Security Council.

In closing, Thomas, and before thanking you for this excellent invitation, I would like to mention that our priorities, as set out in the framework of the Security Council, concern, in addition to the observance of International Law and the review of the basic principles of International Law and world order and the defense of maritime security, as well as the protection of children in war zones. We witnessed terrifying images. Humanity cannot accept the images we have seen in the last eight months.

We must restore a very substantial and effective network of rules for the protection of children, but also for the protection of women and other vulnerable categories. That is why it is our priority to establish rules to protect children and women in times of war.

Of course, our last and equally important priority is tackling the climate crisis. We see that the situation is rapidly deteriorating. We must take appropriate action immediately.

Last month, we hosted in Greece the 9th “Our Ocean Conference” for the protection of the oceans. 125 delegations from all over the world came to Athens and we secured up to 400 commitments, totaling $11.5 billion. The conference was very successful, but that is not enough.

The temperature of the Mediterranean is rising by almost 2 degrees Celsius. This means that in the very near future we will face enormous damage to the marine environment. We must coordinate our actions, take bold initiatives, adopt bold policies, in order to restore environmental sustainability for future generations. Because what matters is ensuring peace and prosperity for today’s generations, but above all maintaining an environment of peace, tranquility and prosperity for future generations as well.

I would like to wholeheartedly thank the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. Konrad Adenauer was one of the founders of the idea of ​​European integration and a peaceful international community.

All I can promise you is that this is not an election campaign. The positive thing is that I do not come from the political arena, in the narrow sense of the term. I am an academic and have only joined politics in recent years. I can promise you – and this is a substantial promise – that we will be here with you even after we are – hopefully – elected to the Security Council. We will ensure, with our Ambassador, that you are fully informed about the resolutions in the Security Council. We will do our best to coordinate our actions, because we firmly believe, as the ancient Greeks believed, that if we are all united, the added value comes from the sum of the efforts that we make individually.

So thank you very much for that. Thank you very much for the invitation, dear Thomas.