Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis’ remarks at the Circle the Med Hybrid Forum 2021 (20.10.2021)

“With a secure and stable Mediterranean, the EU has nothing to fear and, in this context, Greece acquires a dominant discourse and a leading role for both the stability and the protection of the Mediterranean environment”, highlighted Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis in his online intervention in the Circle the Med forum organized by the European Public Law Organization (EPLO).

In particular, Mr. Varvitsiotis underlined the environmental challenge facing the Mediterranean, especially the Eastern Mediterranean, and the consequent challenges facing sectors of the economy such as fisheries and tourism. In this context, he stressed the need for the Mediterranean to become a “sea of cooperation between coastal countries”, which will connect economies and peoples.

At the same time, the Alternate Minister pointed out that ongoing developments in the Mediterranean endanger security and stability, such as illegal migration, Turkey’s attempt to change the status quo in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean, the ongoing Turkish occupation of a large part of the Republic of Cyprus, an EU Member State, developments in Libya, etc. Greece’s effort, on the other hand, focuses on creating a solid foundation that “as we believe, promotes common rules and values of cooperation”.

This includes our country’s actions, first of all, with the strategic agreements on the delimitation of our maritime zones with Italy and Egypt, the agreement with Albania to defer the issue of delimitation to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, as well as the Joint Declaration of the 9th Greece-Cyprus-Egypt Trilateral Summit held yesterday in Athens – actions that mark the common understanding regarding developments in the region.

At the same time, Greece is taking initiatives that highlight the importance of protecting the maritime environment of the Mediterranean, such as the EUMed9 Summit held last September in Athens, culminating in the signing of a special Declaration on the Mediterranean and Climate Change.

Finally, the Alternate Minister underscored that Greece supports all European initiatives to address the energy crisis, urging the European Commission to take greater action on the issue of energy prices.