Greece has strengthened its international footprint and is not related to the one presented today by the opposition, emphasized the Minister of Foreign Affairs, G. Gerapetritis, closing the debate in the plenary session of the Parliament, which was held at the request of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis with the purpose of informing the House on foreign policy issues.

“The political nihilism heard today harms the country. It diminishes her,” said Mr. Gerapetritis, commenting on the positions of the leaders of the opposition parties. “Greece is not what was presented today by the opposition. Greece has significantly increased its footprint. The informal discussions on the Cyprus issue, which was a major contribution of Greek foreign policy, have been restarted, and we now see the future from a position of real power.

We will make sure to strengthen this power so that Greece is constantly in a state of initiative, and not of reaction,” stressed the Foreign Minister.

Responding to the leaders’ words, he said that “there was no intention of deliberation [. . . ] When we have expressions “to beat the prime minister mercilessly” or “the useful idiot the prime minister”, I’m sorry, this is not level. And when the prime minister refers to the fact that the discussion, which can be held behind closed doors, is of a different level, it is true, unfortunately. The current level does not correspond to a real discussion, beneficial to our national issues”.

As he said, all the speakers gave a completely different dimension to foreign policy issues, for example that Mr. Androulakis takes it for granted that Turkey has entered SAFE, or that Mr. Famellos considers Greece to be absent from international conferences: “It is obvious that Mr. Famellos does not follow the activity that takes place in the context of foreign policy,” said Mr. Gerapetritis, referring to a series conferences, such as the one for the Western Balkans or the Middle East, as well as the UN Security Council where Greece participates.

“Greece is present everywhere” said Mr. Gerapetritis. For Mr. Kuchumba who mentioned “that there was a statement of mine that we will send troops to Ukraine, I read the statement. There is no question of such military participation of Greece, it is extremely early. It was understood that we will send troops,” said Mr. Gerapetritis, and called what Mr. Haritsis said about the F35s in Turkey and about SAFE untrue, “No restrictions have been lifted. I remind you that for the sale of F35s to Turkey, the Senate would have to consent, which is extremely far away at the moment.”

Regarding what Mr. Velopoulos said that “Turkish tourists do not pay for their entry” into the country, the foreign minister said that “They pay 60 euros which is provided for by the domestic legislation” as for the claims of Velopoulos-Natsios “that I said that the Greek continental shelf is limited to six nautical miles, this is a shameful untruth.

What I mentioned, and which is absolutely accurate, and many times it is good not to confuse our ideas with reality, is that today as we speak, Greek sovereignty, i.e. the national territorial waters, is at six nautical miles and Greece reserves the right to extend it to 12 miles whenever it decides. That was the statement.

So when a leader of a political party comes and mentions that I said that our sovereignty will not be extended, and he said it three times, that we were limited by 12 nautical miles, it is a lie.” As for Mrs. Kostantopoulou who said that we did not take initiatives on Gaza during our presidency, she said that “during Greece’s presidency of the Security Council two special meetings were held at the initiative of Greece”.

Regarding Turkey, Mr Gerapetritis said that “things are extremely clear. We are divided by important capital issues with Turkey. On the other hand, geography is the one that must also define relationships.

It is something that remains an unchanging feature of a bilateral relationship. The decision we have taken is to have a structured dialogue, which will maintain calm and peace, avoid tensions and crises while at the same time we will be able to increase our own negotiating capabilities in the field. “And at the same time, while we have maintained calm, we are preventing crises, because this crisis at this time can be a disaster.

At the same time, we are making sure that Greece acquires additional negotiating papers, in the discussion we are having,” said Mr. Gerapetritis. On the occasion of the maritime spatial planning parks of June and the Aegean, he said that it is an expression of sovereignty.

They are within territorial waters and they take place where anyone could come and protest. “We know there will be backlash. We are not ethereal. We do not believe that we will take initiatives in the field for the first time in decades and there will be no backlash. Action always brings reaction. But no reaction will prevent us from doing what is in the national interest,” assured the foreign minister.

Regarding Libya, he said that Greece is the only country that currently, at least in Europe, has contact with both sides of Libya at the highest level, while regarding the issues of the continental shelf and exclusive zone, he pointed out that “in the field, the middle line of Libya agrees with the middle line of Greece. He respected the Greek middle line. And to this day, we have not even ratified a Turkish-Libyan memorandum, and the irregular flows of immigrants have almost stopped. So what kind of oligarchy are we talking about?’

Regarding the issue of Sinai, he said that “what we are now taking care of with the Egyptian government in the context of our sincere cooperation, is precisely to have an agreement which, of course, will be brought into consideration by the most competent holy Sinaitic community, in Agia Catherine, which will also have the final word, which will ensure the continuity, viability and, above all, the unchanged character of the monastery throughout the centuries. It is an issue that has remained unsolved for centuries and we undertook to solve it like many others” said Mr. Gerapetritis.

On the issue of Gaza, he said that Greece was always present in the Middle East issue. “We never missed any position, we always supported what we considered right. And the right thing was to obviously condemn the terrorist attack of October 7, 2023 but on the other hand to come and say what are the limits that can be exercised. And which sometimes can already be exaggerated. On the other hand, we were pioneers in humanitarian aid.

Greece undertook multiple humanitarian aid initiatives. It is not our style to advertise humanitarian actions. We don’t do it for communication reasons. But those who have knowledge understand the importance of the humanitarian aid that Greece offered like this to the children who were injured or sick”.

He even stood on the visit of the Palestinian foreign minister which “came just 24 hours after the signing of the peace agreement. We all understand the importance of coming only a few hours after this signing, because Greece, thanks to its foreign policy, is the one that can currently talk not only with Israel, but also with the entire Arab world and the Palestinian Authority, in terms of trust and credibility. Why has Greece developed this multilateral foreign policy for which today I heard multiple accusations.

Finally, he emphasized that Greece is everywhere diplomatically: It has managed in the last two years to be elected a non-permanent member of the Security Council almost unanimously, to have undertaken most initiatives, to have developed strategic alliances with Egypt and India, to have an excellent relationship with the countries of the Gulf and the Middle East, to have an excellent relationship with the United States and the new American administration, to have this multilateralism while we are at the heart of decision-making.

The prime minister mentioned and I want to emphasize: For us, the solution of inaction does not exist. We are here to sometimes take the political price to resolve issues.

In this context was also the statement of the prime minister about the invitation to the coastal states of the region, of course also Cyprus, for the issues that exist in the eastern Mediterranean, so that Greece is also at this level the accelerating force. Greece has a strong international footprint. This is the reality. And unfortunately the image presented today is completely inconsistent with reality. Greece relies on a tripartite which is a strong-resilient economy, an active defense, and an extroverted and serious foreign policy.

In this period, when there is great political tension worldwide, when the principles on which the post-war security architecture of the world was based are being tectonically overturned, where force is often imposed on the law, what is required is a serious and robust foreign policy, a policy that will be based on international law, will have knowledge of international law, because much of what I heard today does not correspond to international law, it will serve principles, will build alliances will unite the north with the south, the East with the West.

The political nihilism heard today, with all due respect, damages the country. It makes her smaller. Greece is not what the opposition presented today, Greece has significantly increased its footprint. The informal discussions on the Cyprus issue, which was a major contribution of Greek foreign policy, have been restarted, and we now see the future from a position of real power. We will make sure to strengthen this power so that Greece is constantly in a state of initiative, and not reaction”, concluded the Minister of Foreign Affairs, G. Gerapetritis.