Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis participated at the 4th Regional Forum of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) today. The meeting of the Foreign Ministers, co-chaired by High Representative/Vice-President of the European Commission Federica Mogherini and Jordanian Prime Minister Ayman Safadi, focused on the common challenges the countries of the Mediterranean must face.
Mr Varvitsiotis noted that the role of the Union for the Mediterranean must be strengthened, starting from the adoption of a joint ministerial statement.
As he mentioned, some of the common challenges faced by the entire region of the Mediterranean are the environment, and especially the sea environment, which brings us together; its protection must be one of our key aims. To this end, he noted that Greece is supporting the UfM initiatives for the protection of the coastal environment. He also referred to the report presented by the UfM on the environment and the impact of climate change on the Mediterranean, which is leading to a disproportionate increase in the temperature of the water. He pointed out that Greece is prepared to address the common environmental challenge and said that the Greek government has made environmental protection its absolute priority, adopting a package of policies for the environment. Specifically, he referred to the government’s commitment to ban single-use plastic by 2021 and to phase out lignite by 2028, so as to achieve the low emissions goal set for 2030. On the European level, he pointed out the need to undertake common actions to protect the natural and cultural heritage, and referred to the Greek initiative for a coordinated plan.
As for the migration issue, he said, “Coming from a country that has been hit hard by the migrant crisis and given that Greece is one of the countries with the highest rates of asylum seekers in the EU, we believe that using the migration flows for expediency should not be accepted, but condemned. We ought to work together to contain the flows, as we ought to adopt policies leading to safer countries and smaller flows.” “The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea must constitute a significant tool for shaping good neighbourly relations, especially in the Mediterranean. A joint, binding, legislative framework is required for a safe environment,” he highlighted. “We must adopt further measures to safeguard it. Especially in the Mediterranean Basin, which is an enclosed sea,” he added.
Upon concluding, he noted the Greece is prepared to also assist any other countries that want to adopt and follow policies for the climate and the protection of our common sea, noting that unanimity strengthens our stance.
October 10, 2019