“I want to express my satisfaction for the fact that a decision was taken at the European Council level on the positions of responsibility at the EU level,” said Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis after the summit’s work was completed in Brussels.

The Prime Minister added: “As you know, I was one of the two negotiators on behalf of the EPP political family. The Council’s proposal to the European Parliament is for Ursula von der Leyen to continue as President of the European Commission, it was decided to elect Antonio Costa as President of the Council for the next two and a half years and also to elect Ms Kaja Kalas, Prime Minister of Estonia, as High Representative for foreign policy and defense issues”.

Mr. Mitsotakis added: “So this process was completed with much greater speed, I want to emphasize, compared to the previous election cycle. And I want to express my particular satisfaction that Ms von der Leyen will be able – provided… and I consider it almost certain that she will be elected by the European Parliament – to continue the important work she has done here and five years”.

The prime minister also referred to the agreement on the Strategic Agenda which, he emphasized, takes into account the Greek positions. In particular, he said: “And of course I should emphasize the fact that the strategic agenda which was adopted today by the European Council takes into account all the important Greek national priorities, the greater emphasis we must place on defense issues, the greater emphasis we give already in the issues of immigration and especially the external guarding of the borders, the emergence of competitiveness issues. These are critical issues for our country, which have also found their place in the European strategic agenda for the next five years, which will obviously also be co-shaped by the European Commission, as I said under the presidency of Mrs. Von der Leyen. The fact that the three important political families support Ms von der Leyen gives the best possible guarantee of securing the majority required in the secret ballot which will take place two and a half weeks from now.”

When asked about Antonio Costa’s tenure, the prime minister noted: “As you know, the president of the European Council is elected based on the treaties for two and a half years. But it has the possibility to be renewed for another two and a half years. Something that was done with Mr. Michel, but obviously it would not be appropriate at this time to prejudge the decision of the European Council two and a half years from now.”

Regarding the discussion on common defense, the Prime Minister replied that we expect the European Commission to submit concrete proposals and options on how defense cooperation can be strengthened at all levels. “Obviously there is no agreement today that we are discussing on joint financing of European defense spending. But it is something that cannot be ruled out that it will happen in the future. I will continue to insist in this direction. We cannot claim that we need to strengthen Europe’s defense capability and ignore the fact that this cannot be done from national budgets alone. I want to remind you that even before the creation of the recovery fund, there were strong reactions from many member states, which at some point bent to get to this point. So I think we’re at the beginning of that process. But joint defense cooperation at many levels, I think, for many of our colleagues in the European Council is ultimately a one-way street,” he added.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis also answered about the challenges of the new leadership in North Macedonia: “Indeed, as there was an entry on the issues of enlargement, I took the initiative and informed my colleagues in the European Council about what is happening in North Macedonia. For the fact that both the president and the acting prime minister are in fact in direct violation of the Prespa Agreement, ignoring in practice the erga omnes and choosing to use a name other than the constitutionally defined name of the country, for internal use”.

The Prime Minister stated that this is something that is completely against the spirit of the Prespa Agreement. “So I informed my colleagues in the European Council about this unpleasant development and I also made it absolutely clear that if Skopje insists on this line they will essentially make extremely difficult, if not practically nullify, any process of immediate convergence with the European family. So I think everyone should realize the consequences of their actions and know that compliance with the European acquis obviously goes through the faithful observance of the international agreements signed in this regard by both parties”, he underlined.

Regarding the portfolios that Greece will claim and the name of the Greek Commissioner, the prime minister said: “I will not answer you on this matter, as the first priority at the moment is to secure, as I told you , the election of Mrs von der Leyen by the European Parliament. From here on, you know that the distribution of portfolios is the responsibility of the president of the European Commission and Greece will definitely seek a strong portfolio which will allow us to once again make our presence felt at the European level”.

Mr. Mitsotakis was also asked about the issue of Freddy Beleris: “We had the opportunity to discuss this issue at the EPP meeting and we did so because the president of the European Parliament, Mrs. Metsola, was present. I take it for granted, if you will, that Freddie Beleris will be in Strasbourg to officially take up his duties as an MEP and will obviously take part in the extremely crucial vote to choose the next president of the European Commission. I won’t say anything more, but I think it’s completely reasonable and self-evident that this will happen.”

Regarding France and Germany’s counter-proposal to the text of the EU’s Strategic Agenda, Mr. Mitsotakis noted: “Indeed, I would tell you that somewhat unexpectedly, France and Germany submitted a text of amendments to the strategic agenda, significant amendments at many levels . This text was not accepted, there were some minor changes. And it was not accepted, for the very simple reason that this text of the strategic agenda had been agreed at the level of permanent representatives, it was the result of a consultation of many months and it would not be appropriate at the last minute and in a kind of surprise to accept such changes, some of which were also extremely essential, without having been extensively discussed at any other level. So, in the end, I think both the German Chancellor and the French President realized that it wouldn’t make much sense to continue this discussion, so essentially the text of the strategic agenda remained the same.”

Finally, the prime minister was asked about Hezbollah’s threats against Cyprus and the relevant reference in the text of the conclusions: “The issue was also raised by the Cypriot President. There was information and I would say an impression that it is not possible in any way to threaten, blackmail EU member states and become potential targets of regional conflicts. I want to emphasize that there was a quite extensive discussion on the issues concerning the Middle East as a whole and I believe that the text of the conclusions as adopted, takes a step beyond the conclusions we have already adopted regarding the need and above all to avoid any regional escalation. There should be an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the decisions of the United Nations Security Council should be implemented. I do not hide from you that there is a widespread concern about the possibility of the front’s extension to the north, towards Lebanon, something that must be avoided in any case.”