Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis discussed the NATO Summit results, Greek-Turkish relations, as well as the government's next diplomatic moves, in an interview today with ERT1’s morning news show "Apo tis 6", with journalist Dimitris Kottaridis.
The Alternate Minister emphasized in particular that "during the Madrid Summit there was clearly a retreat by Türkiye in relation to NATO enlargement, which demonstrates that NATO is the big winner from this Summit".
Regarding Greek-Turkish relations, the Alternate Minister noted that "Greece does not behave as if it is ready to fight; we want to keep the channels of communication open, but this does not mean that our sovereign rights are under negotiation". He also emphasized the country's deterrent power, recalling that in 2019 Türkiye was ready to start receiving 100 F-35s, while today, three years later, Greece has submitted a request for the procurement of 40 F-35 aircraft, has been reinforced with 24 Rafale fighters, is proceeding with the upgrade of 83 F-16 Viper aircraft, while Türkiye is waiting to join the F-16 upgrade program, which must pass the US Congress.
As regards the government's next diplomatic moves, the Alternate Minister emphasized the importance of Kyriakos Mitsotakis' speech tomorrow at the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, where Mr. Varvitsiotis will accompany the Prime Minister, as well as his upcoming visit to Berlin (July 6 and 7), where he is expected to meet with the new leadership of the German Foreign Ministry.
July 4, 2022