“A more active Washington in the region would certainly be a strong statement that the United States takes care of its traditional allies,” Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis stressed today during his speech at the 2nd Southeast Europe & East Med Conference, in a special session on Greece’s role in the stability of the wider region.
The Alternate Minister highlighted that the wider Southeast Europe and Mediterranean region is of strategic importance for Europe’s security system and structure, adding that the EU and U.S. play a decisive role in the security and stability of the wider region. “The sanctions on Turkey show that the United States is again turning its attention to the region, and it really returned resoundingly,” he commented.
Mr. Varvitsiotis highlighted the importance of deepening relations with the United States and capitalising on the trilateral and multilateral cooperation mechanisms with other countries to promote stability in the region. “Greece has developed its relations and its strategic alliance with Israel, and we are very happy to be able to participate in various mechanisms with Israel and Egypt to promote stability,” he noted, adding that the goal is “for us to capitalise on the region’s resources for the mutual benefit of all the countries in the Eastern Mediterranean.”
Referring to Turkey’s aggressiveness in the wider region, the Alternate Minister stressed that “anyone who violates any UN resolutions and is actually negotiating under the table, deploying forces in the field and creating instability, is an unreliable player and is not exporting stability,” concluding that “this is the only way in which Turkey has acted over the past two years.”
Regarding the prospects for Greek-Turkish dialogue, Mr. Varvitsiotis noted that “we mustn't carry out this dialogue under the threat of armed force or while being blackmailed, because you cannot negotiate, you cannot reach an agreement, when you have a pistol on the table.”
Finally, Mr. Varvitsiotis recalled that “we must comply with the UN resolutions on Cyprus, and we certainly must make the European Union undertake more commitments in the region rather than playing the role of observer or third party. Europe is committed, given that two of its member states are in the region and are being threatened by Turkey’s unilateral and provocative actions.”
December 16, 2020