The last thing you need NATO is another source of tension between Greece and Turkey, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said during an open discussion with Washington Post journalist David Ignatius at Georgetown University.
In this light, the Greek Prime Minister explained that he conveyed the specific message to President Erdogan, saying that “this is not the time for aggressive moves, this is not the time to project revisionist views on history, let’s find a dialogue framework to address our issues.” .
At this point Kyriakos Mitsotakis captured the reality that Greece is called to face, referring to the incidents of systemic overflights that have taken place in recent weeks. The prime minister criticized Ankara’s specific moves, saying it was unacceptable for a NATO country to violate another ally’s airspace.
At the same time, however, he kept the door to dialogue open, noting that there is room for building a positive agenda and recognizing the points on which disagreements are recorded.
Regarding the Turkish objections to the possible accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO, the Prime Minister expressed the belief that this issue will be resolved relatively early and stressed that it is not the right time to use the accession of friendly countries to NATO as a negotiating paper. In fact, he assessed that this attitude of Turkey will boomerang and added that it is a move that is wrong both on a moral basis and in terms of tactics.
Asked about the war in Ukraine, the prime minister replied: “As a European leader, I am proud of Europe’s response, proposing sanctions, which are the harshest ever imposed on a G-20 country and, of course, the invasion. “Ukraine has revived the transatlantic relationship, which I consider to be the pillar of global geopolitical stability.”
Mr. Mitsotakis estimated that the war will be prolonged, as things did not turn out as he had planned Vladimir Putin.
However, he expressed the belief that the channels of communication should remain open and referred to the example of European leaders who come into contact with Russia to see if a negotiated solution can be reached. However, as he stressed, at the end of the day it is up to the Ukrainians to decide what an acceptable solution will be.
Regarding the stance taken by Greece, Mr. Mitsotakis clarified that Our country maintains strong cultural and religious ties with Russia and therefore is not hostile to the Russian people. However, he explained that Greece is a country that has given its own struggle for independence and therefore had to stand by Ukraine and support it at a time when its national sovereignty is at stake.
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