- As you very well know, Greece traditionally attaches major importance to the security and stability of Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East and is always eager to play a constructive role in times of crises and tensions in the region.
- Stability in the region is of outmost importance especially in the extremely volatile enviroment of the wider middle east.
- The exploration of energy reserves in east Mediterrenean requires stability and full respect of international law.
- As member state of teh EU and as the current Presidency of the Council of the EU Greece fully supports and encourages an active role of the EU on teh region in the framework of Southern Neighbourhood policy of the EU. Italy, the next Presidency fully shares thw same priority.
- I welcome the efforts of Italy to mobilize support for the Lebanese Armed Forces as a tool of unity of the country.
- All political forces of Lebanon should should do their outmost to ensure that the institutional vacuum by missing the constitutional timeframes for the election of the President of the Republic is filled the soonest possible.
- The massive influx of people fleeing the Syrian conflict - by April 2014, Syrian refugees were estimated to make up around a quarter of the population - has placed a severe strain on the country's resources. We praise the Lebanese authorities and the population for their support to those fleeing violence in Syria but they cannot alone respond to the challenge; it is imperative that the international community’s support for Lebanon be urgent and tangible.
- Greece has always supported, within its means and given the present financial situation the Lebanese Armed Forces on issues such as education and training. We are ready to further continue in this path both bilaterally and in broader context.
- We are particularly happy that 21 Lebanese officers have already been trained in the Hellenic Multinational Peace Support Operations Training Center in Kilkis.
- Since 2006, Greece has been strongly supporting the role of UNIFIL (United Nation Interim Forces in Lebanon) in maintaining the stability of the region, and participates in the mission with a gunboat.
- Recent events in Iraq with the extremists of ISIS seizing major cities and towns, leave no room for inaction. The spillover or “spread” of the Syrian crisis under any form, should be avoided. It is evident, then, that the international community should spare no effort to reinforce the institutions of the country and more particularly the Lebanese Armed Forces.
- Lebanon is not only a batterfield in the fight against terrorism as Minister Gebran Bassil said. It is also the most important, if not the last, batter field for the fight to preserve cultural and religious diversity and coexistance. Event is Syria and Iraq go to the opposite direction, to the destruction of historic minorities that are linked with the region for many centuries.
Lebanon traditionally embodied the model of respect for the otherness, be it cultural, religious, political or otherwise. Saving and promoting this model is more important than ever before in the wider Middle East area. We are all Lebanese.
June 17, 2014