In his interview today on Parapolitika 90.1 radio, on journalist Panagiotis Tzenos’s “Secret”, Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis stressed that “we respond to all Turkish provocations. We have responded on all levels. We respond calmly and we do not back down in defending our sovereign rights.” He also underscored that, following the demarche made to Turkey, the Greek side is initiating a series of briefings in the context of the UN Security Council and, subsequently, the European institutions.
Regarding the European Commission’s proposal and the money to be provided by the European recovery fund, Mr. Varvitsiotis commented that Europe took a huge step and that, with regard to Greece, in was extremely generous, in the sense that our country is among those benefiting the most from the Commission’s proposal. He said that the Greek government’s goal is to absorb and use the funding early on, in contrast with what has happened in the past.
Referring to Professor Sotiris Tsiodras’s appearance on the series of web discussions launched by the Greek Chairmanship of the Council of Europe, Mr. Varvitsiotis noted that “the best choice was to bring Mr. Tsiodras on as our first guest, showing how Greece responded to this pandemic with respect for human rights.” He also noted that the series of online events will continue tomorrow with a high-level videoconference with all of the CoE institutions – the first such event to be held.
June 2, 2020