Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis was interviewed on ‘Real FM’ by journalists Nikos Hatzinikolaou and Antonis Dellatolas.
Regarding the Prime Minister’s visit to Saudi Arabia, Mr. Varvitsiotis stressed that, while Turkey is functioning as a destabilising factor in the region, “we are internationalising our positions, creating relations of understanding and shared perspectives with other players in the wider region, such as Saudi Arabia, a country we had forgotten was on the map in previous years.”
He added that “through our statements, we want to convey two messages to Turkey: the first, that we are willing to de-escalate the tension, and this is why an effort is being made with the confidence-building measures, and the second is that Greece is not a country that lacks diplomatic capital. Greece has created a network with countries that play just as decisive a role, and Ankara needs to take this into account when it makes its moves,” he stressed.
Asked about the migration issue, he commented that a small number of relocations will not solve the problem, but that the problem will be solved when Europe is fortified. On the issue of the floating barrier, he stressed that “the fact that this news came out in Europe and drew interest shows that the Greek government is changing its stance somewhat on what we experienced in the past, which was the facilitation of uncontrolled migrant flows.”
February 4, 2020