In a video-recorded message at the virtual launch of the “Declaration Against Arbitrary Detention in State-to-State Relations,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendias congratulated Canada on its initiative to host the event and to promote and coordinate the international endeavor to address an important issue that poses obstacles to the development of friendly relations and cooperation among states.
In this context, the Minister of Foreign Affairs underscored that arbitrary detention of foreign nationals as a means of exerting coercive diplomacy and leverage against their countries of origin is contrary to international law and violates human rights.
Greece, a longstanding supporter of international law and the principles of the United Nations Charter, welcomes the increasing international support for the “Declaration Against the Use of Arbitrary Detention in StatetoState Relations,” and stands ready to contribute to its implementation in accordance with international law.
Read the transcript of the intervention of the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
February 15, 2021