A. PAPAIOANNOU: Good morning. In the last two weeks, that is, since the last time we met, the Minister of Foreign Affairs has been engaged in a “marathon” of contacts, both in Athens and abroad, the agenda of which focused almost exclusively on the situation in Ukraine following the Russian invasion.
I will come to that in more detail immediately afterwards. In brief, let me just point out that the Minister has already participated in three Foreign Affairs Council meetings, two of them held in Brussels and one via video conference, -we are talking about the period following the invasion- a meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers and in addition to them he had – as you know – a series of bilateral contacts. We had the Czech Foreign Minister’s visit to Athens last Thursday.
The day before yesterday the Minister was in London, where he met with his British counterpart Mrs. Truss. Yesterday he was in Austria to meet with his counterpart Mr. Schallenberg, as well as with the OSCE Secretary General and the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Apart from these, the Minister had also a series of further contacts. He held telephone conversations with his US counterpart, Mr. Blinken. Just a short while ago, he spoke with his Dutch counterpart, Mr. Hoekstra.
He met with Ambassadors of the permanent members of the Security Council, the British, the French, the Chinese. He spoke with the US ambassador and from there on he had a meeting with the Ukrainian Ambassador, the Polish Ambassador, and the Ambassadors of the Baltic States.
Now, regarding our position on the current situation in Ukraine. Allow me to reiterate three points, which I consider to be of particular importance and concern our foreign policy.
The first one is about the protection of the civilian population. The implementation of humanitarian law and in this context, the creation of humanitarian corridors that will allow, on the one hand, for the provision of aid to the entrapped, and on the other hand, facilitate those who want to leave their homes.
As you know, and as both the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Prime Minister have emphasised, our main concern, our top priority, is the protection of the Greek diaspora in the region, which is currently confronted with particular hardships and risks.
Let me remind you that the Minister of Foreign Affairs visited Mariupol on January 30 and met with members of the Greek diaspora there. He stressed the importance we attach. He was accompanied then by the new Consul General in Mariupol. This is the first key point.
The second point – you also know it – is that we condemn any use or threat of use of force against any state. This is a fundamental position of principle of Greek foreign policy. To quote the words of the Minister, it is the “holy gospel” of our foreign policy. Article 2, par.4 of the United Nations Charter prohibits both the use and the threat of use of force.
And of course, we call -it is a basic principle for us- for the respect of the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of all states. This is a key principle of international law that we respect and apply.
The third key point is that we coordinate and co-decide with our partners, especially of course within the European Union. We fully implement the decisions we take with our European partners, including the imposition of restrictive measures. We express our full solidarity with our partners in the European Union, especially those who are currently facing particularly large waves of refugees.
And we call on other like-minded countries, especially countries that are candidates for accession to the European Union, to align with the decisions of the European Union, especially with regard to restrictive measures.
For example, let me emphasise here that at the last NATO Ministerial Meeting at least five European countries that are NATO allies, but not members of the European Union, underscored this alignment, with one exception, the largest European NATO country (non -EU Member State).
We, as we have said, uphold our commitments as a country in general, both in a multilateral framework and bilaterally, with no ifs or buts.
Now, as regards the matters concerning Greek citizens. Let me start by saying that we issued two announcements, one on February 14 and the other on February 22 where we urged Greek citizens to avoid travelling to Ukraine on the one hand, and those who were there to leave the country.
Then, on February 24, the Crisis Management Unit was activated. The first meeting with our authorities in Ukraine and the Crisis Management Unit was held as well. This took place as soon as the attack was launched, in order to examine ways in which to address the situation.
We had three Missions in Ukraine at the time. Our Embassy in Kyiv, the Consulate General in Odessa and the Consulate General in Mariupol.
Since then, as you know, five evacuation operations have been organised for Greek citizens and their relatives and in some cases even for foreigners, who were sailors on Greek-owned ships. Three operations were launched from Odessa, one from Kyiv and one from Mariupol, which in fact took place under particularly adverse conditions – all of them of course, but especially that of Mariupol which lasted three days – as you are certainly aware, because there were several colleagues of yours in the diplomatic convoy.
In this context, allow me to praise the role played by my colleagues, starting with the Ambassador Mr. Fragiskos Kostellenos, who was also the head of the evacuation operation from Mariupol, our Consul General in Mariupol, Mr. Manolis Androulakis, who is the only Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ official still in Ukraine. I will come to that shortly.
Our Consul General in Odessa, Mr. Dimitris Dochtsis, who since the day before yesterday, since Monday when the last evacuation operation was completed, has been transferred and continues to operate from Galați, Romania.
And let me also make a special mention of the Cyprus Charge d’ Affaires in Kyiv, who helped us a lot in evacuating Greek citizens. We are in full coordination with the Republic of Cyprus.
Now, as far as the issue that is of particular concern for us all, at least here at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it is our colleague Manolis Androulakis who remains in the OSCE building, that is where the OSCE Special Monitoring mission in Mariupol used to be housed. The Consulate General was relocated there several days ago. Our main concern, of course, is his safety.
As for Mr. Androulakis, I was saying that the Minister of Foreign Affairs discussed with the OSCE Secretary General, Mrs. Helga Schmid, in Vienna yesterday, about the evacuation of both him and members of the OSCE mission who are still there.
We are in close coordination with both the OSCE and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Our main concern is the Consul General’s safety. We will see, I cannot tell you at this moment when he will be evacuated, that will depend on the conditions. But again, I emphasise that safety remains our main concern.
And while on the subject of the evacuations, I could not fail to mention the contribution of our Embassy in Bucharest, which is concurrently accredited to Moldova, under Ambassador, Mrs. Sofia Grammata. Here in Athens, the general coordination is provided by the Secretary General, Ambassador Mr. Demiris. They have done a great job so far; we have managed to evacuate a lot of people.
Now, a few words about the contacts of Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Dendias, in brief.
To begin with, the Minister met with Ms. Truss last Monday in London. I would say that 90% of the discussion was about the developments in Ukraine, there was an exchange of views, analyses about Ukraine. There was coordination between the two countries both bilaterally and within NATO, although I would say mainly in the bilateral context.
The implementation of the Memorandum, which they had signed last October, with emphasis on the defence and tourism sectors, was also examined.
An exchange of views on the Western Balkans took place, in which Great Britain has recently shown increased interest, and has even appointed a Special Envoy.
Furthermore, an exchange of views on the developments in Libya, in the Sahel region took place as well.
Finally, the Minister invited Mrs. Truss, who as a matter of fact accepted the invitation, saying that she has visited Greece several times, but never in her capacity as Foreign Secretary.
Now, regarding yesterday‘s meeting with OSCE Secretary General, Ms. Helga Schmid, who had served as Secretary General of the European External Action Service for many years, as I told you, the issue of the evacuation and protection of the civilian population was discussed.
In addition to the issue of our Consul General, emphasis was placed also on the protection of the Greek diaspora in the region and how we will be able to help. There was a broad exchange of views on Ukraine, on the developments there. There was also a rather, I would say, interesting discussion on the prospects for the Western Balkans, in the light of the latest developments, but also for the countries of Central Asia.
In fact, Ms. Schmid stressed that Europeans should show a greater interest in the countries of Central Asia, which, in a way, feel they have been left out.
Beyond that, a bilateral meeting of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Dendias, with his Austrian counterpart, Mr. Schallenberg followed. Let me be brief again. They spoke about Ukraine.
They had a fairly extensive discussion on developments in the Eastern Mediterranean. I want to emphasise this. I would also like to emphasise that the Minister thanked Mr Schallenberg for Austria’s stance on the Eastern Mediterranean within the Foreign Affairs Council, especially in December 2020, but also in March 2020.
It was the first country, if I am not mistaken, that had rushed to help Greece during the events in Evros. At this point, please forgive me, I would like to open a parenthesis. Let me also say that in the meeting with Ms. Truss the Minister also thanked for the clear position taken by Britain regarding the issue of the Greek islands of the Eastern Aegean.
So, in the meeting with Mr Schallenberg, he thanked Austria for its position. They also discussed the Western Balkans. As you can imagine, the developments in Bosnia and Herzegovina are of great concern, and in the light of recent events, the need to maintain the stability in this country is becoming even more urgent.
There was also a discussion about North Africa, Libya, the Sahel region. Regarding the Minister’s visit to Austria, I would like to conclude, with a remark which I consider particularly important. Our relations are very close and, in many cases, both ministers when one or the other is not present, speak on behalf of each other in the Foreign Affairs Council.
This can be done in the context of the European Union, to ask another country to speak on behalf of us. Well, our positions on a lot of issues are identical and that, as I told you, allows us to talk on behalf of each other on various issues.
Mr. Dendias also had meetings with parliamentarians, including with the chairwoman of the Austrian Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Mrs. Wagner, who is also the leader of the opposition and with the Chair of the Committee on European Affairs. Allow me to conclude, as far as the Minister’s contacts in Vienna are concerned, referring to the meeting with the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mr. Rafael Mariano Grossi.
At this point, let me recall the Minister’s message at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva -it was held on February 28 if I am not mistaken- where he expressed his concern about the issue of nuclear reactors in Ukraine and their safety.
As we all know very well, Greece had a bad experience from Chernobyl in 1986. Mr. Grossi gave a thorough briefing on the situation at the nuclear reactors in Ukraine and that covered most of the discussion.
Beyond that, there was a brief discussion about the nuclear reactors under construction in the Akkuyu region, in Turkey, which – as is well known – are being built by the Russian company ‘ROSATOM’. Finally, Mr. Grossi briefed the Minister on Iran’s nuclear program.
That’s all regarding the Minister’s contacts. Now as for the Minister’s schedule, I will be very sparing with my words, because in fact a large part of the engagements, especially abroad, has been postponed at the moment due to the latest developments.
The Minister will remain in Athens for some time, unless something extraordinary comes up. In the coming days he will have various contacts with foreign officials here. You will be kept informed.
There is a serious possibility that he will be in Parliament next week. To conclude, I would like to point out the two engagements the Minister has abroad which apparently will not be postponed.
There’s the Foreign Affairs Council on Monday, March 21 and the very next day, he is scheduled to travel to India. These are included for sure in his schedule.
Now, regarding the Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Varvitsiotis’ schedule. Tomorrow and the day after, he will accompany the Prime Minister at the informal meeting of Heads of State or Government, to be held in Versailles, with its agenda focusing on the situation in Ukraine and European defence issues.
Next week, from the 15th to the 18th of the month, Mr. Varvitsiotis will travel to the United States, where he will participate in the “South East Europe & East Med” Forum in Washington, organised by the “Delphi Economic Forum” and, on the sidelines, hold meetings with US State Department and Congress officials.
He will then visit New York, where he will have contacts with UN officials.
On March 22, Mr. Varvitsiotis will participate in the General Affairs Council meeting in Brussels, and then, on March 24 and 25, he will accompany the Prime Minister to the Ordinary Meeting of the European Council, which will also take place in Brussels.
In a few days, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Fragogiannis, will travel to Saudi Arabia with a business delegation and with the participation of the Minister for Development and Investments Mr. Georgiadis, Deputy Minister for Development, Mr. Tsakiris, Deputy Minister of Tourism Ms. Zacharaki, as well as representatives of 42 companies and members of Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV) and the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ΕΒΕΑ).
On March 17, Mr. Fragogiannis will meet with Mrs. Sim Ann, Senior Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore, who will be visiting Athens. On the 20th of this month, Mr. Fragogiannis will participate in the Prime Minister’s meeting with the Crown Prince of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed in Crete.
On March 21, he will participate online in the hybrid 6th Annual London Business Summit, titled “UK – Greece – Cyprus: Taking trade & investment to the next level”, to be held in London.
As far as the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Katsaniotis, is concerned, at this stage I have nothing to announce.
That’s all from me today. Forgive me, I am always taking up quite a lot of time. I am at your disposal for questions.
CHR. KRATSI: Christina Kratsi from ALPHA TV.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement informing us that the OSCE premises where our Consulate is hosted were shelled and heavily attacked. I would like to know if you could confirm it and what we know about it; whether we have more information about that. I guess they are referring to Sunday’s attack.
A. PAPAIOANNOU: All I can tell you is that we discussed the security situation around the premises with the OSCE Secretary General. As I told you, these premises housed the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission in Mariupol and in fact members of this mission are still in this building.
The information we have is that in the wider area, as of course the same is unfortunately the case in Mariupol in general, there is fighting, but the building is not a target.
This is the information we have. The people inside are in good health. Of course, they have moved to the building’s shelter for obvious reasons, they are well protected there and, as I tell you, I have no information about an attack targeting the premises. Mr. Michos.
P. MICHOS: Panagiotis Michos from ‘TO VIMA’ newspaper.
In the last few days, we have seen some posts of the Russian Embassy and a statement by Ms. Zakharova concerning Greece. I would like to ask you, does all this harm Greek-Russian relations? How does the Ministry of Foreign Affairs view them and comment on them? Thank you very much.
A. PAPAIOANNOU: I thank you, Mr. Michos.
As for the Russian Embassy’s post last Sunday, as you know, I have already touched upon it and I have said that it was unacceptable, unfortunately, and not compatible with diplomatic practice.
As for Ms Zakharova’s post concerning our country, let me refer you to the statement we issued last Sunday. I have nothing to add on that.
P. MICHOS: But do they harm our relations?
A. PAPAIOANNOU: You will allow me to stick to what I said; I referred to the statement, please read it.
P. MICHOS: Thank you very much.
A. PAPAIOANNOU: I thank you. Mr. Balodimas, yes.
TH. BALODIMAS: Balodimas, from ‘RIZOSPASTIS’ newspaper.
The Embassy of Ukraine in Athens distributes information material of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine on how nationals of different countries can be enlisted in this multinational legion that is being formed there.
Is the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs aware of this and how does it respond to the possibility of Greek nationals, Greek citizens, taking up arms against the Russian Federation?
A. PAPAIOANNOU: I will refer you to the Embassy of Ukraine. I have nothing to say on this. Mr. Magiriadis, please.
A. MAGIRIADIS: Apostolos Magiriadis, from SKAI TV.
What does the Greek side expect from the Mitsotakis-Erdoğan meeting on Sunday and will Mr. Dendias accompany Mr. Mitsotakis?
A. PAPAIOANNOU: As regards the context of the Prime Minister’s visit to Istanbul and his meeting with the Turkish President, the Government Spokesperson outlined it in yesterday’s briefing.
Now, as for what our expectations are, all I can tell you is what our positions are, which have not changed at all, our positions are well-known. And we will reiterate our well-known positions.
I told you, the Government Spokesperson outlined the context of the Prime Minister’s visit and his meeting with the Turkish President.
Yes Ms Voudouri, please.
A. VOUDOURI: Good morning and thank you very much.
There is this request to immediately grant Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova candidate status for EU membership. These countries have already submitted the relevant applications. What is our country’s position on the immediate granting of this status? Thank you very much.
A. PAPAIOANNOU: I thank you very much for your question. As you know, any European country can apply for membership in the European Union. The procedure to be followed is provided for in Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union, of the Treaty of Lisbon. That is, there should be a first discussion at the level of Ambassadors, of the Permanent Representatives to the EU, and then the issue will be referred to the Council which will decide whether to consult the European Commission on the application for membership.
And on the basis of the opinion of the European Commission the Council will decide unanimously, and I emphasise this, after receiving the consent of the European Parliament – and this is an innovation of the Lisbon Treaty, the European Parliament also has a very important role – both the Council and the European Parliament will decide whether to grant candidate status to the applicant country. This is the procedure.
Beyond that, there are currently candidate countries, some of which have already started accession negotiations and others, as I have repeatedly emphasised, that we hope will start negotiations very soon. And we believe that the procedure should be followed for all countries aspiring to join the EU.
And let me reiterate once again, that we – and this was something that the Minister also said in his meeting with his Austrian counterpart and with Mrs. Schmid – that, of course, in the midst of this crisis we should not forget the Western Balkans and their European perspective. They should not feel that they have been marginalised, that they have been left out, to put it simply; quite the opposite.
Please, Mr. Manolis.
D. MANOLIS: Dimitris Manolis from Athens News Agency.
Following the latest developments, do you think that the debate on the strategic autonomy of the European Union is gaining a new momentum?
A. PAPAIOANNOU: Look, first of all the debate on the Strategic Compass has already started since, I do not remember exactly, last November or December.
Of course, in the light of the groundbreaking, I dare say, by German standards, announcements by the German Chancellor for an increase in Germany’s defence spending and surely by other countries – and of course allow me to say that the French side as well, French President Macron, has repeatedly referred to the issue – that this is expected to gain a new momentum. As I said, European defence will be one of the issues to be discussed at the informal European Council tomorrow.
Having said that, of course the Minister of Foreign Affairs participated in the meeting of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs, last Friday. Allow me to refer to something that at least I saw for the first time while dealing with European defence issues; that the Foreign Ministers of Finland and Sweden participated in the meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers that we had in the morning, which of course was attended by the High Representative Mr. Borrell, as is customary.
In the afternoon we had the Foreign Affairs Council with the participation of the Secretary General of NATO Mr. Stoltenberg, the US Secretary of State Mr. Blinken and the British Foreign Secretary Ms. Truss, and that was the first time I had ever seen this format.
Well, I say that because, on the one hand, the issue of European defence is gaining a new momentum, and on the other hand of course there is always coordination with our Euro-Atlantic partners.
Please.
K. MELISSOPOULOS: Thank you, Kostas Melissopoulos from ‘Vradini’ newspaper.
Recently, the Russian Ambassador implicitly but clearly linked the possibility of Moscow recognizing the occupied territories of Cyprus with the possibility of us recognizing Kosovo. Is there such a prospect from the part of Athens regarding Kosovo?
A. PAPAIOANNOU: Greece’s position on the Kosovo issue has not changed. Since you mentioned the occupied territories, you will allow me to say that the declaration of the pseudo-state in 1983 was condemned at the time by the UN Security Council and in fact with the positive vote of the then Soviet Union, and this still applies today.
There is a UN Security Council Resolution; not only does it not recognize the pseudo-state, but it also condemns the recognition of the pseudo-state.
A. VOUDOURI: Since there was mention of Kosovo, I would like to ask a relevant question. Kosovo probably has the intention, as expressed by its President, to submit an application for NATO membership soon. In such a case, what would the stance of our country be? Thank you very much.
A. PAPAIOANNOU: Look, first of all, this is a hypothetical question, let me say. Τhis has not happened yet, but beyond that, as you know, there are currently four NATO countries that do not recognize Kosovo and in fact KFOR, the NATO force currently in Kosovo, operates within the framework of United Nations Resolution 1244/99.
K. CHASANDRINOS: Chasandrinos Konstantinos, from in.gr. It goes without saying that contacts and open channels of communication at various levels are always useful. But it is also true that high-level discussions are only useful when there is a strong possibility of an important step being taken. Can we expect something like that from the Mitsotakis-Erdoğan meeting, given that four rounds of exploratory contacts have taken place in recent years? Thank you very much.
A. PAPAIOANNOU: I will ask you to address this question to the Government Spokesperson. As a Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it is not for me to comment on the summit meeting.
CHR. KRATSI: Christina Kratsi from ALPHA TV. I cannot recall, did you say that next week Mr. Dendias will be in Parliament?
A. PAPAIOANNOU: There is a debate on the Agreement with the United Arab Emirates, yes. On Tuesday and Wednesday, in the Committee and the Plenary, barring the unforeseen of course. There is no certainty at times like these, but that is our scheduling.
Mr. Balodimas, please, is there something you need to ask?
TH. BALODIMAS: You keep mentioning the issue of the Western Balkans and mainly Bosnia and Herzegovina. So, is there any information at the level of NATO or the European Union about any attempt at destabilisation, in particular from the part of Russia in the country?
A. PAPAIOANNOU: It is not my position to speak about the EU’s and NATO’s information. What I am going to say is that we as a country – and this is shared by many of our partners – are particularly concerned about the stability prospects in this country; and we believe that maintaining stability there is a key element, both for the sake of this country and the wider region of the Western Balkans which, as I told you, is a topic that the Minister of Foreign Affairs repeatedly raises with all his interlocutors when we discuss the Western Balkans, which we almost always do.
A. VITALIS: Vitalis from ERT Radio. You clearly stated the Greek position on Kosovo. You made it clear. You also made clear reference to the Security Council resolution condemning the pseudo-state when it was declared. My question is this: have you mentioned this fact to the Russian side following Mr. Lavrov’s statements, who did not even use the terms ‘so-called’ or ‘self-declared’ “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus”?
A. PAPAIOANNOU: During the Minister of Foreign Affairs’ talks with Mr. Lavrov on February 18, if I am not mistaken, Mr. Lavrov said that Russia’s position on this issue has not changed. It remains unchanged regarding the Cyprus issue. And I would like to say that, always, within the framework of the United Nations and regarding the renewal of the mandate of UNFICYP there has never been an issue, quite the opposite.
K. MELISSOPOULOS: We witnessed the events that have occurred since then. Do you take them into account as part of the equation or do you stick to what Lavrov said on the 18th of February?
A. PAPAIOANNOU: I will reiterate that there is a UN Security Council resolution condemning the pseudo-state.
K. MELISSOPOULOS: If you allow me.
A. PAPAIOANNOU: Yes, Mr. Melissopoulos.
K. MELISSOPOULOS: And if you will allow me, you replied that our position regarding Kosovo has not changed. I asked you whether or not there is anything to announce regarding the perspective of handling this issue on our part?
A. PAPAIOANNOU: Thank you so much. No, I have already answered. Thank you. Mr. Michos, please.
P. MICHOS: Panagiotis Michos, from ‘TO VIMA’ newspaper. Are there any sanctions against Russia that might be taken in a European context that we might consider not adopting? Thanks. I mean specific sanctions, for instance, in fields that may go against the Hellenic Republic’s own interest. Is it possible for us to distance ourselves and not adopt them?
A. PAPAIOANNOU: Decisions to impose restrictive measures are taken at the European level and all member states are called upon to implement them. There is no question of an ‘a la carte’ implementation. And that’s what we are doing now. And let me say once again that we are also asking the countries that seek a European perspective to align themselves with these positions. You see the point. Ms. Voudouri, and then Mr. Melissopoulos.
A. VOUDOURI: Both previously and in your introductory remarks you spoke of countries that need to align themselves with European decisions. This does not concern only Turkey, but also Serbia, right?
A. PAPAIOANNOU: Right. But as you can realize, the sheer size of – we are referring to all countries that have a European perspective. Mr. Michos, yes.
P. MICHOS: Panagiotis Michos, from ‘TO VIMA’ newspaper. Is there a possibility of a meeting between the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Prime Minister before the meeting in Istanbul? Thanks.
A. PAPAIOANNOU: Of course.
P. MICHOS: Will they meet?
A. PAPAIOANNOU: Pardon me, the Minister of Foreign Affairs meets with the Prime Minister at very regular intervals and they talk even more regularly. This goes without saying. And they work closely together.
Right. Well, if there are no other questions, thank you so much again.