Greek diplomacy always performs the best for the homeland by Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis in an interview (mononews.gr) and referred extensively to all the latest international developments concerning Greece.

Regarding the Safe Regulation, he said that it is clear that there is a transformation of the European Union to a more geopolitical character, which means that European defense should be strengthened.

“In this context, the Union chooses to open its market for third states, whether it is countries that are in accession regime or third countries, such as the United States and the United Kingdom. But this is not overall and horizontal, nor indefinitely. The Safe regulation sets out the process and the participants of a particular European program. of the regulation, Greek diplomacy has performed its duty perfectly, ”she said.

He clarified that the SAFE Regulation, according to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, is voted by a special majority, that is, 15 of the 27 Member States representing 65% of the total population of the Union.

“Therefore, the philology of not closing the door to Turkey is at best ignorant and in the worst case political opportunism. It is also completely inaccurate that Greece has not taken a strong stance in the process of voting for the regulation. Competition and ultimately cheaper defense supplies, ”said Gerapetritis and added:

“Nevertheless, we have made two changes, which are absolutely decisive for Greece. The first change, which we demanded and imposed in the end, was not to automatically integrate third countries in the equipment programs, but to be eligible to have a bilateral agreement between the European Union. Explicit reference that, in these bilateral agreements, if and whenever they are drawn up in the future, the national security issues of the Member States should be taken into account. Third Member State in Defense Programs, we have essentially created a veto and put the national interests of all Member States of the Union at the forefront.

Mr. Gerattritis referred to developments in Libya spoke of great instability in that country, he said he would visit both rival sides, and stressed that Greece was doing what it owes to serve both the stability of the wider region, as well as its own national interests. Regarding Hafett’s attitude in the Turkish -tired memorandum, he said we should not prejudice the developments.

“Greece is watching developments and ensures that it creates a system of contacts and exercise meaningful diplomacy with both Eastern and Western Libya. We believe that balanced beneficial communication should be restored with both sides, which for historical reasons must be restored.” Finally, speaking about the Turkish -tired Memorandum signed in 2019 and notified to the UN in 2020, he said that it does not produce any legal effect against third parties, and has no legal status, as if Libya and Turkey have no relevant coasts, as required by its law. “Therefore there is no legitimacy.”

The Sinai Monastery

Referring to the developments with the Monastery of Saint Catherine of Sinai, he said that the judicial pendulum did not arise now, but it is overdue, assured that there was no risk of financial survival, he stressed that “the Greek flag will continue to wave in the monastery” and added:

“The reality is that there has been an attempt to resolve the dispute, that is, to cease the dispute, so that the monastery could continue to continue in the way it was operating. This agreement would cease the dispute, but would not exaggerate the worship of the monastery.” He added that there was no specific arrangement for the Holy Monastery in Egyptian law, despite its centuries -old religious character and estimated that the Court of Appeal’s decision contains positive and negative elements.

“The positive thing is that the Greek Orthodox worship is guaranteed in perpetuity. It is good not to underestimate it, because, regardless of property, a sovereign state has the weapons to intervene. So today, after the issuance of this decision, which is the only one in the 15th century, which will remain unchanged in the future.

Speaking about Greek -Turkish, he said his frequent meetings with Fidan’s counterpart, are aimed at maintaining a periodic communication channel, in order to prevent tensions and manage them. “There were potential tensions that thanks to our direct channels did not evolve into a crisis, as in migration,” he said and added:

“We did not expect that Turkey would withdraw from the basic positions. As there is no way Greece will withdraw from its basic positions. Based on this given, what we care is to be able to create a functional and elementary relationship. Because we often forget about it. They flood the islands, to flood Evros.

Finally, he referred to the cable and stressed that the Cyprus-Crete electric interconnection would take place, while expressing his optimism about the course of the Cyprus problem.