Athens, 26 August 2008

“From the very first moments of the crisis in South Ossetia, Greece has conducted itself in accordance with the fundamental principles that have always guided its foreign policy through the years.

Paramount among these principles is respect for the independence and territorial integrity of states. We have implemented this policy of principles and respect for international law consistently with regard to a number of issues.

Regarding the matter of the crisis in Georgia, in both the Council of the European Union and the NATO Council, Greece gave its full support to the need for immediate implementation of the 6-point peace plan to end the crisis – which was signed by both Moscow and Tbilisi – and we gave our full support to the need to respect Georgia’s territorial integrity.

We express our dismay at today’s developments and we subscribe to the French Presidency’s statement condemning the decision to recognise the regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia in their secession from Georgia.”