The Foreign Ministry issued the following announcement regarding the announcement from the Syriza spokesperson for foreign policy issues, MP N. Valavani, on the conclusions of the EU Foreign Affairs Council:
“The Syriza spokesperson for foreign policy issues, MP N. Valavani, leveled criticism, in her announcement, at the conclusions of the 15 August extraordinary meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council, and specifically that Greece did not differentiate its positions from those of the other EU member states.
Responses to issues raised by Syriza were provided in advance in Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos’ statements of 15 August, in Brussels, and in his very recent briefing of the competent Parliamentary Committee, on 6 August.
Greece shapes its foreign policy – which has been strategically firm through recent decades – based on the criterion of respect for international legality and the defence of its national interests, particularly on the major pending issues it is facing. It is also based on these criteria that Greece takes a stance in the European Union and in all the other international organizations in which it participates. Foreign policy is not exercised based on demagoguery or communication strategy; on fragmented or ephemeral criteria.
So we make the reminder that:
With regard to Gaza, Greece has from the outset supported the Egyptian initiative aimed at a sustainable, solid truce that allows for a return to dialogue and an agreement on a two-state solution described in the relevant UN Security Council resolutions and the relevant European Union texts. Greece has already sent humanitarian aid in the amount of €500.000, through the UNRWA, and this money is being provided to cover food needs and the repair of the water mains network. Greece has also declared its ability and readiness to provide treatment for wounded, and especially for children.
With regard to Iraq, Greece supports all the initiatives of a humanitarian nature and, politically, the provision of assistance to the Kurdish forces resisting the ISIS aggressions.
With regard to the situation in Ukraine and the crisis in EU-Russian relations, Greece supports all of the political and diplomatic initiatives for de-escalation – like yesterday’s meeting in Berlin – and has made clear its willingness to mediate within the framework of the shared Orthodox Christian tradition, always with respect for its position as a member state of the European Union, from which we expect support on all the critical national issues.
With regard to the Russian countermeasures’ repercussions for Greek agricultural production, the government has, through the Foreign Ministry, stressed from the very outset that there will be coverage on the community level, with supplementary coverage on the national level, in the specific manners being drawn up by the competent EU organs and by the co-competent Ministries.”
August 18, 2014