Dear friends and colleagues, Ioannis and Enrico,
Dear Ambassador,
Ladies and gentlemen,
It’s always a great pleasure for me to attend an Economist conference. Let me say that I first read the Economist when I was 18 years old, and I’ve kept every issue ever since; a thought-provoking companion, always providing insightful analysis. It doesn’t matter if you agree or disagree – reading it always has something to offer.
But today, my dear Daniel, the Economist calls us to provide the solution to an equation that is both difficult and intriguing for our region: how to conduct effective diplomacy in a highly unstable environment. Because, let us not bury our heads in the sand, the Russian invasion of Ukraine is a turning point for European security. What we previously took for granted has been overthrown: fundamental principles of European and global affairs, respect for territorial integrity, national sovereignty and the fundamental rules of International Law, all of these things are no longer taken for granted in Europe.
What is our response? I believe we have a response, however grey the reality may be. Our response is to safeguard and promote an international community based on rules. The questioning of these rules constituted a painful and sudden awakening for many Western countries.
At this point I have to say that this awakening is not new for Cyprus and Greece. Greece and Cyprus have learned to live with the questioning of these rules for many years, at least since 1974. We have learned to live with an existential threat. We, the Hellenic Republic, are the only country on planet Earth that lives under a constant, explicit threat of war. And, recently, we have witnessed an upsurge of aggressive rhetoric and an increase in provocations on the ground as well.
And I must also say that until recently a very large part of the International Community considered this questioning of rules and legality in our region as a somewhat peripheral, perhaps sometimes unimportant problem.
Now, however, the entire International Community is experiencing the revival of revisionism both as a theory and, worse, as a practice, wearing either the neo-Tsarist or the neo-Ottoman “cloak”.
But, I would like to point out that the means used by the revisionist countries have a lot in common:
• The threat of the use of force, the use of force itself, the occupation of foreign territories
• Hybrid attacks, with an emphasis on propaganda and disinformation, the well-known fake news.
• And more recently, the new tool, the instrumentalization of migration, of peoples’ desire for a better life.
And as we said before, the question is how we will respond, how our societies will respond to these challenges. And to be really honest with you, despite how complicated and challenging it may seem for our continent, we believe that the answer can be summed up in three key words for Europe: Deepening of European Integration.
Many have criticized, deplored and questioned the European project. But you will allow me to tell you something that I have been saying quite often: the European project is very, very young. In its present form, it is only 70 years old. In reality, it resembles the monotheistic religions that require hundreds of years to consolidate – with the exception of Islam. The European project is still evolving, not to say it’s still in its infancy. And it needs to evolve through integration and enlargement.
The European Union is a union of values and principles. And I am very proud to say that it is the most successful example of close cooperation between states in the history of mankind. The Principles that our country embraces are at the same time the Holy Gospel of our foreign policy: Respect for International Law, for the International Law of the Sea, which, let us not forget, is a component of our European acquis. Respect for human dignity, for the right of the personality, women’s rights. Within such a framework of understanding, all issues, even issues that currently appear to be extremely challenging and inaccessible, can be resolved. But all actors need to accept this acquis. And, I am sorry to say, we are still far from that.
The European Union, therefore, in order to react to this unstable environment, has now one response: to become much more stable itself; and then to project this stability beyond its own borders. In other words, it needs to project its soft power on the international stage. The great challenge it faces in this difficult moment – and incidentally the Economist sets it out in its latest issue – is to remain united in this great effort, to overcome the challenges: the challenges of energy crisis, of inflation, of contestation. And to take joint decisions that are needed to protect its own external borders and to continue to impose sanctions on those who violate International Law.
In other words, it must use this practice to demonstrate how fundamentally different it is from other powers’ archaic revisionisms and to convince itself of the need to support its members when they are threatened.
This, I think, will be perhaps the only beneficial result of this extreme anachronism that is the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
And I want to say that, in our judgment, this is the only choice. And all member states have an obligation to encourage it. We, Greece, a small to medium-sized country located on the borders of Europe, are making every effort in this direction.
We are building bridges with the countries of our wider region, in the Middle East, in the Gulf. But also further afield, with China, India, Australia, New Zealand, and Vietnam. And we hope that all countries will embrace our perception.
And on the other hand, we rely on our excellent relations with the United States, our historical ally across the Atlantic, which this year has done us a great honour: it has entrusted the representation of its interests in Greece to a Greek-American, the new US Ambassador, Mr. Tsounis. I think both the choice and the person deserve your warm applause. But Greece would like something more, Mr. Ambassador: that your presence here will mark a permanent decision, ensuring that the United States will always be represented in Greece by a Greek-American.
Again, the challenges we face are multiple and incredible. They are challenges that point us back to a past from which humanity thought it had escaped forever. However, despite their complexity, the path is straight, clear, specific and, let me say, one and only: the faithful, unwavering, exportable implementation of International Law. And this is the path that Greek foreign policy consistently follows.
Thank you so much.