“Greece will do whatever it takes to defend its sovereignty,” Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis stressed in his interview with Bloomberg’s Sotiris Nikas and Paul Tugwell.
More specifically, Mr. Varvitsiotis emphasised that Greece is open to dialogue with Turkey on maritime zones, as well as on bilateral issues such as the economy, tourism and Covid-19. “But if the issue is to contest Greek sovereignty over islands in the Aegean Sea, then the response is no. We’re not discussing our sovereignty, we’re not giving away Greek soil and we will do whatever it takes to defend it,” he said.
Regarding the Brexit negotiations and the UK, which appears to want to use the current talks to roll back past agreement such as protected designation of origin status for products, the Alternate Minister said, “this won’t be accepted.” All EU countries “stand by the negotiating team of Michel Barnier and will stand by the side of Ireland -- with no exception,” he added.
Asked about EU-U.S. relations, Mr. Varvitsiotis said that “the Atlantic gap is widening” and that the U.S. is “very much engaged in its own issues.”
Regarding the Greek Chairmanship of the Council of Europe, he stressed that the goal is to adopt an Athens Declaration on 4 November, providing guidelines for future pandemics. “We want to leave for future generations a document that will be part of a common legal legacy that shows how to react to a pandemic with respect for human rights, democracy and the rule of law,” he said.
July 3, 2020