Dendias: Greece’s positions vis-νία-vis Ukraine are the positions they have on the Cyprus issue
“Our country has a very clear position towards the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It is a position that stems from established transnational principles of Greek and foreign policy in favor of the territorial integrity of states. ” This was stressed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikos Dendias, in the context of the 7th Delphi Economic Forum.
He said: “H. Hellas standing solidarity opposite Ukraine as in any invading country. THE Republic of Cyprus is a country that was invaded. “Greece’s position vis-.-Vis Ukraine is Greece’s position on the Cyprus problem,” he said, adding that “what matters is the big picture.” As he stated: “I am not happy with the order, the major problem is the relations between all the EU countries, the whole Western Alliance and Russia. He mentioned the efforts made by the Greek government in the last two years to strengthen Greek-Russian relations. However, as he said: “The order of Greek-Russian and European relations was the result of the Russian behavior that refers to the principles of Greek foreign policy.”
“Greece had no other choice. Stay true to the principles and values we express, otherwise there would be an inherent contradiction between the positions we defend in the Cyprus issue and the positions against the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It is up to Russia to return to the codes of conduct of the United Nations Charter. “We are making every effort to get back to where we were before,” he said. According to Mr. Dendias: “It is good to separate the people from the actions of governments. Greece does not attribute the introduction to the entire Russian people and Russian society. It is a choice of a specific government. ” As he said: “Talking about war in Europe in the 21st century is tragic in itself,” the minister said, stressing that Greece has no Ad Hoc policy. It’s the only way we can be trusted and respected. “
He added that “our country has a of particular interest for coastal zone of Black Seaas they are there Greek populations since centuriesAs Mr. Dendias stated, the Russian side did not allow us to go to Mariupol in order not to see the situation that prevails there, while as he made known, we will ask for a special investigation, together with 37 other countries, for Mariupol, based on the image conveyed by the Greek consul. “It is not possible to destroy cities and civilians are killed by regular troops. We can not go back to the 20th and 19th century. “We can not go back to the time of gravity,” he said.
Commenting the recent ones statements of Mrs. Newland in terms of economics sustainability of EastMedMr. Dendias stressed that there is no geopolitical but economic argument. He pointed out that it is correct to estimate that EastMEd is not dead as a real project, but that it can not be done at this time to meet immediate needs. While emphasizing the need to take into account the path of EuroAsia – Interconnector, which is identified with that of EastMed and which is strongly supported by all stakeholders. As for Turkey, Mr. Dendias pointed out that “as long as Turkey does not have threats to Greece, Greece will not seek its armaments.” “We want Turkey to be a friend and ally of Turkey, but to choose the basic parameters of its own foreign policy that make it compatible with international law, the International Law of the Sea,” he said, calling Casus belli “completely unacceptable”. .
In the ensuing debate, Ivan Korčok, Slovakia’s Foreign Minister, spoke of a huge strategic defeat for Russia. “The whole West is more united than ever,” he said, noting that “Ukraine is now politically within Europe.” “The war has changed the attitude of the Slovaks and they are supporting NATO assistance to Ukraine, and there is still a lot of Russian propaganda,” he said. As he made known, “there would be no decision to cede the S300 to Slovakia if there was no war, while a Patriot battery is being developed, and that is a positive thing.” During the Slovak presidency, he stressed that efforts will be made to strengthen the cohesion of the Visegrad countries, as he said on several issues there is no single policy. While, he stressed the need for EU enlargement with the countries of the Western Balkans. “There is a great opportunity for countries to come together,” he said.
According to Bujar Osmani, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Northern Macedonia: “We are living in a humanitarian catastrophe in Ukraine and there is a need for immediate and urgent action. “We condemn the brutality and urge Russia immediately to stop this war.” “He spoke about the need for channels of communication and dialogue,” he said, stressing that B. Macedonia is a reliable partner. “We are in line with and support the sanctions imposed by the EU on Russia and we have been following the sanctions since 2014. We are 100% in line with European policy,” he said.
“From day one, Kosovo has been in line with EU and US sanctions,” said Donika Gërvalla-Schwarz, Kosovo ‘s foreign minister, adding that 20 Ukrainian journalists had been called in . and work there. As he clarified: “From the first day we tried to make our interlocutors aware of where we are going”. “We can accept up to 20,000 refugees,” the foreign minister said, while, as he made known, we have already sent humanitarian aid. As he said: “We hoped that we would never see such images in Europe again. “If you do not learn from the mistakes of the past, you repeat them.”