Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis’ speech during the Parliamentary debate on the 2022 State Budget-main points (Athens, 17.12.2021)
“Greece can succeed if it makes full use of three key factors: its human resources, its geographical position and its participation in the EU”, stressed Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs, Miltiadis Varvitsiotis, speaking today in Parliament during the debate on the ratification of the 2022 State Budget. He underlined that “this cannot be achieved by way Greece going to Europe and dictating our partners the correct way of going about things, which is what we hear monotonously from the side of SYRIZA, but it can be achieved if Greece takes advantage of the differing strategies between Member States, turning the balance of power to its advantage and always be in the winning side in any negotiation. That is what the Kyriakos Mitsotakis government did and what it will continue to do”.
Speaking about the goals that the government has served recently in the EU, the Alternate Minister pointed out that “for the first time in our history we have turned the issue of Greek-Turkish relations into a Euro-Turkish one and we have managed through constant interventions to create today a very tough context, in which Turkey is described in clear and harsh words. “This leads our neighbouring country to an extremely strained relationship with the EU, which has not only political but also economic consequences.” “We cannot leave Turkey out of control, outside the European context, without a reminder on the part of the EU that the common values of democracy, the rule of law, respect for human rights and respect for international treaties and international law are a prerequisite for any expansion of Turkey’s further participation in it, and of course for the reaping of any benefits from the economic relationship that Turkey may have with the EU”, the Alternate Minister notedly said.
Moreover, Mr. Varvitsiotis underscored that the Greek government co-shapes to a great extent European reality and has managed through this approach to secure more money per capita from the Recovery and Resilience Facility than any other country, resulting in more growth prospects than ever before opening up today for the country.
Criticizing the main opposition party, Mr. Varvitsiotis stressed that the SYRIZA government’s policy resulted in the largest tax raid since the founding of the Greek state, as well as in Greece’s complete isolation from everything that happens in all schools of thought in Europe. “What we have seen, the Alternate Minister noted, is that SYRIZA is reverting to an extreme leftist logic, which has nothing to do with the path taken by the EU”, as a result of which it asks our country to become isolated once again, as it was in the previous five years”.