“Greece is arming itself and increasing its defense footprint. Today, the Greek Parliament is debating the agreement for the procurement of the Rafale aircraft and the Belharra frigates and I wish all the political forces had the maturity to send a serious message of solidarity, as regards the defence of the country with the procurement of weapons that are absolutely necessary in the Aegean, in air and sea”, stressed Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis in an interview with RealFM 97.8 radio station and journalist Katia Makri.
The Alternate Minister pointed out that Mr. Çavuşoğlu’s statements and the Turkish claims on the demilitarization of the islands do not make sense, and that Greece has responded in every way that the presence of the army on the Greek islands does not serve any aggressive intentions on our part, but on the contrary it is explained by the need to defend ourselves against the challenges of our sovereignty attempted by Turkey. “Turkey's arguments are not accepted by the international community”, he added.
Asked about developments in the Ukrainian crisis, Mr. Varvitsiotis noted that the power of diplomacy and room for further discussion before starting a possible military conflict are still there, adding that such a conflict would certainly not prevent Ukraine from joining NATO, as Russia wishes, but it would have the opposite effect.
January 15, 2022