Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis’ remarks on SKAI TV’s morning show ”SIMERA” with journalists Dimitris Oikonomou and Maria Anastasopoulou (Athens, 25.10.2021)

“The Turkish threat is real and demonstrated with particular intensity, especially after the conclusion of the Greek-French Agreement and the signing of the Defence Agreement with the USA. That is why we have drawn up a strategy on three levels: the European, the international and that of strengthening our country’s defence”, stressed Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis in an interview this morning on SKAI TV’s show “SIMERA” with journalists Dimitris Oikonomou and Maria Anastasopoulou.

In particular, Mr. Barvitsiotis emphasized that we firmly defend our sovereign rights, as happened in Evros, in the case of Oruc Reis, and with the procurement of weapons systems that are essential to our deterrent force, but also with the bilateral agreements that the country has concluded. Referring to these agreements, the Alternate Minister stressed that if Erdogan decides to target our country with any provocative action, he should know that he will have to confront the obstacle of Brussels, the pressure of the United States, as well as France and the UAE who are our allies and this reality offers our country more advantages than it did in the past. “There is no doubt that, if and when we are called upon, we ourselves will be the first to confront Turkey”, he added.

In the same spirit, after noting that in terms of rhetoric this autumn is more intense than the summer, Mr. Varvitsiotis commented that “what we need to do is to be prepared. We systematically keep our partners informed and we have managed to demonstrate that Turkey is not currently a player that plays by the rules of international conciliation,” he concluded.