Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs, Miltiadis Varvitsiotis discussed the Future of Europe, his participation in negotiations at EU General Affairs Council meetings but also Greece of the past and Greece of today, as a guest in an episode of the EuPods podcast, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of Greece accession to the EU, with the support of the Representation of the European Commission in Greece.
In an in-depth discussion with journalist Apostolos Magiriadis, Mr. Varvitsiotis analyzed and explained how in Brussels one learns to “step into the shoes” of one’s interlocutors and how Europe could be transformed into a world power in the coming years, in the context of the dialogue that has opened on the Future of the continent.
“Europe should first and foremost aim for greater speed and transparency in terms of timetables and decision-making process,” the Alternate Minister noted, referring to the axes on which the Europe of tomorrow must move. “We must also look at the external image of Europe and how Europe can eventually be transformed into a force that will shape global developments,” he added. Enhancing Europe’s strategic autonomy is equally important, he stressed, not only in terms of health care, as the COVID-19 pandemic has shown, but also in terms of technology and defence, as in the field of defence industry. The issue of migration, which divides North and South, is also crucial, as no common ground has been found yet to deal with illegal migration flows and protect the countries at the EU’s external borders through concluding return agreements.
Regarding his participation in General Affairs Council meetings, Mr. Varvitsiotis, describing his experience to date, notes that the most difficult part of the negotiation was the European budget, as there were different aspirations from the member states. “In EU General Affairs Council meetings, what we do for the most part is to have a good idea of what the positions of others are and where their red lines are drawn, so that respectively we can express our positions and use our bargaining chips or vice versa. What I have learned from my participation in these Council meetings so far – and, I think, all Greeks have learned in a tough way – is that we should step into the shoes of our interlocutors much more often and in a much more timely fashion before we decide make a claim. One should be able to move forward and present proposals, such as the EU digital COVID certificate, and to remain center stage and not on the margins”, he pointedly said.
In the same interview, Mr. Varvitsiotis compares the European leadership of the past and the present. He describes Jean-Claude Junker as “a passionate advocate of the European vision”, adding that “he was the man we had the good fortune to be head of the European Commission during the critical period of the financial crisis”. Referring to Ursula von der Leyen, he notes that she has achieved “amazing things”, such as the pan-European vaccination program and the approvement of national recovery plans within a short time.
He recalls stories by his father, Ioannis Varvitsiotis, who, following Konstantinos Karamanlis, led the European course of the country since the early 1960s, as he says, having realized the importance of being at the core of the West, against the anti-European sentiment of the ‘70s, ‘80s and early ‘90s.
Finally, he talks about the state of Greece before its accession to the European Economic Community in 1980, a country of scarce resources with a small international airport at Hellinikon, contrasting it with Greece of Today, a country with large infrastructure projects such as the Metro, the Rio-Antirrio Bridge, the National Roads and the International Airport at Spata.