The Minister of National Defense reported on defense spending, Nikos Dendias in his speech at the “2024 IDU Forum”, which is organized by the International Democracy Union (IDU) in Washington, while also sending the message “to support the rules based on the international order”.

Mr. Dendias participated in the discussion in the first thematic area under the title: “The Future of Governance: International Security in an Age of Nationalism”.

In his statement he said: “When I usually address a European audience, I point out that we do not have the luxury of being in the geographical position of Luxembourg, which is safe on all sides. Now that I’m here in Washington, I think we’re all thinking it’s happening war in Ukraineand there is a war in the Middle East, but it is very far from us».

And he continued by saying: “And that’s not just the fault of the ocean that separates us. But if you look, for example, in north-eastern Greece, Alexandroupoli, which is the main port of NATO in north-eastern Greece, its distance from Odessa is only 500 kilometers. So I guess it’s like there’s a war somewhere between New York and Boston. Our distance from Gaza is a bit longer, as it is from Lebanon. This is the reality.”

“What we must all agree on, and we are ready to do our duty, we as frontline countries, is to uphold the rules based on the international order. Not to accept a change of this order by force. Not to advocate brute force. Not to accept terrorism as a means to change the world. It’s easier said than done,” he clarified.

To increase defense spending

Regarding defense spending, Mr. Dendias emphasized: “We are all advocating that we should increase our defense spending. In Greece we spend more than 3%, maybe even more than 3.5% of our national defense budget. Why do we do this? Not only because we are a good NATO ally, but because we also face a threat from our neighbors, Turkey.”

“The European Union says that all countries must increase their defense spending and also some, like President Macron of France, are advocating an autonomous European presence in the defense sector. Others say it should be complementary to NATO. Nice. But with more abilities,” he added.

“And now comes the trap” he said and continued: “Although the European Union advocates more spendinghas such fiscal rules that if you exceed your fiscal limits at least. And that hasn’t changed, I repeat hasn’t changed, since the Russian invasion of Ukraine – you’re being scrutinized and whether you did the right thing to go over your budget or not.”

“Now,” he said, “the markets will raise bond rates to such a level that you will face a crisis long before the European Union decides whether or not you were right to increase your defense spending. But we cannot proceed like this».

“Peace is not a given”

“We should understand that we live in an era where peace is not a given. And if we can’t (understand it), countries, people, leaders who believe in alternative solutions to govern different societies and different values, we will not survive. We have taken Democracy for granted, we have taken peace for granted. It’s not like that. We are wrong,” he emphasized.

“We entered the 21st century believing that we, our children and our grandchildren will live in a period of peace and prosperity. It is obvious that this is not the case,” the Minister of National Defense pointed out.

In the debate, moderated by the president of the International Republican Institute, dr. Dan Twining, the former president of Croatia, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović and the former prime minister of Australia, Scott Morrison, also took part.

It is noted that the International Democracy Union (IDU) is an international union of parties that belong to the Center-Right political space and share common values ​​for Freedom and Democracy.

It was founded in 1983 and consists of member parties from countries on all continents. Its members are from Europe the parties belonging to the European People’s Party (EPP) – such as New Democracy from Greece – and the Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), while from the USA the Republican Party is a member.

The IDU World Forum in Washington is organized every year and is a meeting point and exchange of views between heads of state and government, ministers, parliamentarians, representatives of governments and organizations, officials, academics, etc.

IDU’s current president is former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Founding members of the IDU included Margaret Thatcher, George W. Bush (sr.), Jacques Chirac, Helmut Kohl, and many other leaders.