During his speech this afternoon in Parliament’s plenary debate on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs bill ‘Ratification of the protocol amending the Mutual Defence Cooperation Agreement between Greece and the United States of America’, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikos Dendias, stated the following, among other things:
• I would like to express the Government’s fondest wishes for a speedy recovery for our colleague, Mr Tryfonas Alexiadis. We wholeheartedly wish him the best.
• I believe it is my obligation to condemn in the most categorical manner the jingoistic behaviour of the former Euro-MP of the nazi party. If our love for our homeland is confined to tearing up the flags of other countries, then I very much fear that we are expressing our “love” for our country in an exceptionally problematic and unacceptable way and creating more problems for Greece. The Greek government and Greece as a whole have nothing to do with these practices, which they denounce and reject.
• I think we all grasp the uniqueness of this moment and comprehend that this is the most volatile situation in the country's post-junta history. However, we need to be extraordinarily careful in how we word our thoughts and how we engage in dialogue on issues that, in essence, concern our existence as a nation.
• What we are obligated to serve goes far beyond the benefit to the party to which each of us belongs, each faction, each party or each government. Absolute national concord is a prerequisite for our existence as a nation and, consequently, we are all absolutely obligated — and the government first and foremost — to serve this need.
• Creation tensions would not serve what is, ultimately, our constitutional obligation, which is none other than the prosperity of Greece and society and the safeguarding of its national independence.
• I believe the Greek political world — with the exceptions we are all aware of — broadly grasps that the enlargement of the US ‘footprint’ in Greece would be in the service of our national security.
• Let us steer clear of the stereotypes of the past, those of “national sellouts” and “superpatriots” or the “incompetents” in negotiations and the “geniuses” with the key to the singular truth that would convince the US to single-handedly adopt all our views.
• I would remind you that this agreement does not aim against any other country. It does not establish an alliance with the US against a third party. This would be an incorrect interpretation and, if I may, is an illicit interpretation — it is not an interpretation that would serve our national interests.
• How does the superpower express its view? Does it serve or, if you prefer, is it aligned with Greek positions on matters of particular national importance? For example, let us examine the issue — a crucial one for us — of whether islands are entitled to an EEZ and a continental shelf. For Greece, this is self-evident, but there are other countries in the region that disagree. I would like to read you the statement issued by a State Department spokesman: “... contrary to what Turkey proposes, under international law as it is crystallized in the Convention on the Law of the Sea, the islands are generally entitled to the EEZ and the continental shelf to the same degree as any other land area”. How do you assess this view of the US, dear colleagues? How do you evaluate it in relation to our national interests? Does Greece favour this view or not? “Evidently”, someone said. Seriously? Do all countries share this view? Can you present me with an identical, equally clear statement issued by other important powers in the area?
• The issue of Libya and the truly neo-surrealist agreement signed between Turkey and the Sarraj government was brought up. The Greek government has expressed a view it considers well-founded and based on international law. What is the superpower's interpretation? “We remain concerned about Turkish provocations in the region, including illegal drilling within Cypriot territorial waters and the recent agreement delimiting maritime zones between Turkey and Libya”. Is this useful to us? Is it immaterial? You have all read Mr Pompeo's letter to Kyriakos Mitsotakis, wherein he states that he supports “your prosperity, your security, and your democracy”. Is this immaterial to us, dear colleagues?
• We have entered a new era, where we are not asking for used tanks, helicopters or ships. We have the choice to ask for them, if we so wish, but our view is that of seeking know-how and knowledge of the means to be employed in the next decade, of creating infrastructure for the decade to come. The agreement serves not the views of the past but the interests of the future.
• Whom does the argument concerning freezing the agreement serve? Because let us be clear: we wish for a US presence in Alexandroupoli. We consider it a plus and not a minus, and we do not wish to see it delayed.
• We consider that this agreement serves Greek interests. In conclusion, I must express my gratitude once more, because, always in the context of my contacts and thanks to the assistance of my colleagues and the members of the Council on Foreign Policy, the level achieved was exceptional and worthy of the critical nature of the circumstances: If nothing else, please remember that the country's greatest weapon is its unbroken national unity.
Mr Dendias then responsed to Mr Varoufakis, the Secretary of the MeRA 25 party, stating the following, among other things:
• I am forced to tell you something that, I must admit, is a trap — to discuss the Agreement concerning defence cooperation with the US as an Agreement concerning Greek-Turkish relations, and that is something that must not take place. You raised certain issues concerning US-Turkish relations and my comments will be on those, not like a discussion on the Agreement.
• Is no value given to the EastMed Act passed by the US legislature? only to statements and tweets, which, in any case, are the opinion of the President of the United States? Has the US legislature ever before taken a more advanced position against Turkey? Is no value given to the suspension of Turkey's participation in the manufacture of F-35s?
• I fully understand the needs of politics, I absolutely comprehend the existence of a left-wing audience that has specific reflexes, specific historical references and a specific way of interpreting reality. At present, we cannot allow ourselves to be compelled to express views on these matters. We are not in calm waters right now.
• For God's sake, I would under no circumstance distinguish between the “deferential and subservient” and the “independent and brave warriors” in this room. We have paid dearly for such distinctions over the course of our history, even during the post-junta years.
January 30, 2020