Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis was interviewed by Nikos Hatzinikolaou on Real FM regarding his participation in tomorrow's meeting of the EU General Affairs Council.
In response to a question on the EU stance on the Turkey-Libya agreement, Mr. Varvitsiotis said that what Greece expects from Europe is a strong political statement on stability in the Mediterranean basin and how to avoid moves that might spark tensions and conflicts, even if these are on the diplomatic level, stressing that a relevant decision is expected from the European Council.
Mr. Varvitsiotis then underscored that the Greek delegation is going to Brussels with a firm agenda aimed at establishing this framework, as well as briefing Greece's partners on what is happening and requesting a unanimous position and condemnation. He also referred to last week’s announcement from the European Commission, which was in this direction, stressing that the European Council – the leaders of the EU countries – is expected to approve the phrasing of this statement and make it part of the European Council conclusions.
Finally, Mr. Varvitsiotis noted that the Greek side is not interested in militarising any diplomatic crisis with Turkey and that a ‘heated incident’ is in no one’s interest, underscoring that such an incident would completely isolate Turkey from its European environs and that the history of militarisation of diplomatic crises teaches us that it never happens on the best terms.
December 9, 2019