It is a great pleasure and honor to be in Helsinki today with my esteemed counterpart, Minister Elina Valtonen.
Dear Elina, I would like to express my deep gratitude for the warm hospitality extended to me and the Greek delegation.
Elina has always been a valuable colleague. Your professionalism, strong personality and structured way of thinking have been an inspiration for us at the EU Foreign Affairs Councils.
I am visiting Finland during a period of significant volatility in the surrounding region. It has not been like this over the last decades. The truth is that over the past four years, the foreign policy agenda has been dominated by various crises and conflicts.
I seize the opportunity to commend the OSCE Finnish Presidency and Elina’s efforts to ensure that the Organisation remains the key forum for addressing security issues and challenges, especially hybrid threats in our region.
From the outset of the war in Ukraine, we have strongly condemned Russia's illegal invasion and firmly supported Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty.
As a staunch supporter of International law and the UN Charter, Greece has consistently backed all efforts to put an end to the war in Ukraine. We call for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire that would clearly safeguard the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.
Greece, as a maritime nation, places particular emphasis on maritime security. We clearly condemn the existence of a shadow fleet, which is a clear violation of International Law. And we will undertake all efforts to combat this illegal phenomenon.
As two countries of the European South and the North respectively, Greece and Finland are meeting today to seek a better understanding regarding security challenges. The external borders unite us and I think this makes us all very conscious of the contemporary challenges.
In this context I would like to underline first of all that border protection is absolutely essential and meaningful. This is an integral part of European strategy. We emphasize the importance of fair burden-sharing, solidarity and the prevention of any instrumentalization of migratory flows.
Secondly the EU partners are united in our pursuit of a stronger, more resilient, and strategically autonomous Europe, and that means a strong European defense system with increased capabilities. We are working hard in this respect.
At the same time, as NATO allies, following the historic decision of Finland to join NATO - for which we are very honored to have provided our support - we are committed to strengthening the transatlantic relationship.
We also discussed EU enlargement. We consider that this should be at the top of the agenda for us. It is an existential issue that we provide a vision for the nations in the process of pre-accession towards the European family.
Regarding our bilateral relations, we agreed to further expand our cooperation in the fields of trade, energy, and tourism and to foster further cooperation in other fields, such as start-ups.
Of course, enhancing cooperation would mean to mutually support candidacies. We are privileged now to be part of the Security Council, as an elected member for the 2025-2026 term. We steadily support the Finnish candidacy for 2029-2030. I hope that Finland will serve at less turbulent times.
President Stubb, in his recent inspiring speech at the UN General Assembly poignantly remarked that “war is always a failure of humanity.” And I think this is a very strong statement for all of us. Because this reflects our failures as well. In our meeting today, we reiterated our commitment to jointly work in order to strengthen the United Nations, to ensure that their fundamental role as a peacemaker is preserved for the benefit of future generations.
I conclude my visit with a renewed determination for our deep relationship and respect for Finland and for the Foreign Minister.
We shall work together for a more strategic Europe in the future. Thank you.
JOURNALIST: What do you think was U.S. President's role in exercising pressure on the parties for reaching a ceasefire? Do you view this development as a game changer for Donald Trump’s Nobel Peace Prize possibilities?
G. GERAPETRITIS: The truth is that we have meaningful and tangible results from President Trump's mediation. The draft plan has been successful, at least on the first phase, and we are looking forward to its implementation. We consider it as a first step towards the ceasefire and to the release of hostages, which was long overdue. This is actually a major success. And this is why we have to commend President Trump's mediation.
We hope that this mediation will be equally successful when it comes to Russia's aggression against Ukraine. We think that this war should be terminated immediately and we are hopeful that in the near future we will be able to achieve positive results.
As for the Nobel Prize, I think you should probably ask Elina, who is much closer to the seat of the Nobel Institute.
October 9, 2025