“The Greek government favors further engagement between the European Union and Russia. But this shouldn’t happen under the conditions put forward such as sovereign countries being limited in the possibility of joining the European Union or NATO in the future”.
This was emphasized by Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs, Miltiadis Varvitsiotis in an interview regarding Ukraine with Bloomberg news agency and journalists Paul Tugwell and Sotiris Nikas.
The Alternate Minister reminded of the severe sanctions having been imposed on Russia since its 2014 incursion into Crimea and noted that “similar measures will follow if something new were to occur that jeopardizes the stability, security and integrity of Ukraine”.
Elsewhere in the interview, Mr. Varvitsiotis underscored that Greece’s desire to maintain its ties with Moscow “by no means undermines our responsibilities or our commitment to the solidarity and unity of both NATO and the EU”.
According to Bloomberg, the Alternate Minister accompanies Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to the European Council Summits, while he was the one who did the groundwork (in his capacity as Co-Chair of the Greek-Russian Joint Interministerial Committee) for the Mitsotakis’ meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin held last December.
In his interview, Mr. Varvitsiotis underlined that Russia would lose out if it decided to curtail gas exports to Europe. “I don’t think there are other markets ready to import this Russian gas”, he added.
The Alternate Minister also pointed out that “Europe has alternatives to Russian supplies including gas discoveries off Cyprus, Israel and Egypt. Power produced in the region from these sources could also be exported to Europe”.
January 18, 2022