Ladies and gentlemen MPs,
We are nearing the end of yet another difficult year. Unfortunately, we mourn the loss of lives on a daily basis due to the pandemic, while households are under pressure due to the energy crisis, among others.
At this juncture, the Mitsotakis government has demonstrated its readiness to intervene in critical areas and, of course, in the economy. It has succeeded in increasing foreign direct investment, harnessing every opportunity to absorb EU funds, keeping tourism, small and medium-sized enterprises and primary production afloat, aiding those most affected, especially the less well-off.
None of these is self-evident. However, they lie at the very heart of New Democracy’s ideology, at the very heart of the ideology of the New Democracy parliamentary group which is the foundation of this government.
New Democracy, ladies and gentlemen MPs, is a people’s party. It is historically a people’s party. New Democracy supports reforms and is supported by reforms, while retaining its popular character. It retains its popular and patriotic genetic material, it retains its ability to converse with the people of daily toil and effort or, to put it plainly, Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ New Democracy party is and remains the party founded by Konstantinos Karamanlis.
Ladies and gentlemen MPs,
In foreign policy we face the most volatile and ever-changing environment since the war. We avail ourselves of every window of opportunity while acknowledging reality, namely that Greece and Cyprus are faced with an expansionist neighbour.
In the course of the last years, this has become evident with the unprecedented provocations in the Aegean, in Evros, Cyprus, the Eastern Mediterranean, and even broader in the Caucasus region, Iraq, Syria, and Libya. Ottoman ideological constructs are emerging, the “Borders of the Ottoman heart”, the “Blue Homeland”.
In the face of this unprecedented and anachronistic provocative conduct, Greece reformulated its diplomatic tactics and strengthened its deterrent power.
In the diplomatic field, Greece has prioritized International Law and the Law of the Sea, UNCLOS, as the common ground and a prerequisite for understanding between States. It brought to international attention the unacceptable threat of war, the casus belli, issued by Turkey.
And, ladies and gentlemen MPs, there is no country in our vicinity, in Europe or the Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf, that both the Prime Minister and the entire political leadership of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have not visited.
In the European Union, together with Cyprus we have incorporated, despite the difficulties, the Turkish provocative conduct and expansionism as a main item on the Euro-Turkish agenda. We outlined the security problem that Turkey creates for Europe and why Turkey should not be armed, especially with European weapons systems. We spoke of its depart from International Law, from the Law of the Sea and from the protection of human rights.
In the Western Balkans, we contribute to the region overcoming its past, to sharing the principles and values of the European Union. The problems of the Prespa Agreement are obvious, but on the basis of the “pacta sunt servanda” principle we continue to pursue its interpretation and implementation in good faith so that we move forward in our region. In this context, we agreed with Albania to defer the issue of the delimitation of our maritime zones to the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
In our southern vicinity we have created defense alliances, enhanced cooperation and multilateral understandings with important countries of the Arab world, such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait and Iraq. With Egypt and Italy, we signed Agreements on the delimitation of our Exclusive Economic Zones and our marine zones respectively; we signed a bilateral Agreement with the Emirates which includes a mutual assistance clause, and we contribute to the defense of Saudi Arabia.
We created a multilateral scheme, the Philia Forum, along with many of these countries and France; and all this on the basis of common principles, values and rules of International Law and the Law of the Sea.
We have strengthened our relations with Israel. The Prime Minister was there a few days ago. Our relations are historically at the highest level and we support Israel’s rapprochement with the Arab world.
We assessed in a timely fashion the new architecture being forged in the region, even before the Abraham Accords were signed. Our cooperation and understanding with other countries of the Middle East, such as Jordan and Iraq, are ongoing.
Our position on the Middle East issue is clear. During the latest crisis in Gaza, I was the first Minister from another country who was received by both Israel and Palestine, promoting the cease-fire agreement that was achieved three days later.
We have re-engaged in Syria by supporting international efforts. Our Embassy in Damascus has reopened and is operating at Chargé d ‘affaires level. We have appointed a Special Envoy for Syria.
In Libya, once the transitional government took office, we re-opened our embassy in Tripoli and our General Consulate in Benghazi, we contribute to the humanitarian field, we organized a business forum, and we contribute to the demining process. The Prime Minister was invited at the Paris Conference for Libya last month. The Libyan government itself invited Greece at the Tripoli Conference. We put Greece back on the map regarding developments in Libya, despite objections from certain quarters.
We are also engaged in a constructive way in North Africa, from Egypt to Morocco.
In the Caucasus region, our historical ties with Armenia are well-known. We maintain excellent relations with Georgia. We have re-established communication channels with Azerbaijan. As you are aware, I met with my counterparts from both Azerbaijan and Armenia on the sidelines of the recent OSCE Ministerial Council.
Our credibility and our collaborations have gained momentum that can extend as far as the Indo-Pacific region and Australia. As you know, the Foreign Ministers of India and Australia have recently visited Athens. Our views are identical on the crucial issues concerning International Law and the International Law of the Sea, and we are promoting the same line of reasoning in the United Nations Security Council.
I would like to refer to the effort we are undertaking in our contacts with the non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. We have met with, and outlined our positions to almost all the members, to all Ministers from the countries that will be included in the composition of the UN Security Council as of January 1, 2022.
Also, in the context of our new strategy for Africa, we have visited, I have met with counterparts from important African countries and, among them, members of the Security Council, such as Ghana, Gabon, but also Kenya, which is already a member and at the beginning of the year I will visit Nigeria, Angola and Senegal. We explain our positions, we offer our help exercising vaccine diplomacy, we establish new collaborations.
In the same spirit, we will approach Latin America following my meetings with the Foreign Ministers of Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica and Caribbean countries during this past year.
I kept the permanent members of the Security Council for last. You are all aware that our relationships with the United States and France have reached another level in recent years.
We signed the Amendment and Protocol of the Mutual Defense Cooperation Agreement (MDCA) with the United States, we strengthened the Strategic Dialogue. The American presence extends from Souda to Alexandroupolis, in Thrace. When I was talking in this room about Alexandroupolis back in 2019, very few believed it. Also, just the day before yesterday, on the initiative of Senator Menendez and other Senators and Congressmen, Congress voted, among other things, on the privileged possibility of Greece acquiring F35 aircraft.
This was followed by the signing of the Strategic Partnership Agreement with France containing a mutual assistance clause.
And I want to make it clear that these Agreements are not directed against anyone. But they enhance security for our country.
We also promote the engagement of our allies in multilateral cooperation schemes in which we participate in the Eastern Mediterranean region.
In the post-Brexit era, we recently signed a Strategic Partnership Framework with the United Kingdom.
We maintain traditional relations of cooperation with the other permanent members of the Security Council.
The Prime Minister met with President Putin in Sochi a few days ago. As you know, I have met with Sergey Lavrov many times, we exchange views, we present our own positions on global security issues.
We maintain relations of cooperation with China. Minister Wang Yi visited us a few days ago in Athens.
But we approach all issues on the basis of the rules of International Law. And the Diaspora Greeks who are still our best ambassadors contribute to this.
At the same time, we implement a set of coordinated actions for extroversion and economic diplomacy. Our goals will be served even better with the modernization of the Ministry’s structures and operation, already in progress, and then with its digital transformation that will begin in the first months of 2022.
I do not wish to tire you, but I can tell you that in two years from today, if what is already underway is implemented by then, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will finally enter the 21st century.
Ladies and gentlemen MPs, our foreign policy as outlined in the Ministry’s new strategic plan has already born fruit.
Since taking office the current government has signed 118 bilateral Agreements and 39 multilateral ones. We have received unprecedented support in the International Organizations.
• In the last two months, Greece was elected in the International Maritime Organization receiving the highest number of votes. We received 150 out of 157 votes.
• We were elected in the first round of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee receiving the second highest number of votes, that is, 119 votes.
• 112 members co-sponsored our Resolution on safety of journalists.
• 111 states co-sponsored our Resolution on return of cultural property.
• We have secured 95 pledges, pledges in writing, for our election to the Security Council for the 2025-2026 term. The elections will be held in 2024.
The Mitsotakis government’s foreign policy has made a decisive contribution to halting Turkey on the ground. It has made the European Union and the West aware of the new “Eastern question”. It forced Turkey to chase after developments in the region in search of interlocutors.
Turkey, in its effort to normalize relations with Europe and the West, does not confront us. Turkey is confronted by its own illegal actions, the threat of war against Greece, the refusal to accede to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the null and void, illegal Turkish-Libyan Memorandum, the challenging of the Greek islands’ sovereignty under the pretext of demilitarization, its revisionism towards International Treaties, the overflights over the Greek islands, violations of national airspace and territorial waters, the instrumentalization of migration, the deviation from the rule of law. All this has become more of a problem for Turkey than for Greece.
As far as we are concerned, we do not accept fait accomplis and we do not succumb to threats. And let us be clear, the tactic of first breaking the law and then negotiating on the basis of unlawful actions to receive a lawful outcome, has come to an end. And this applies to Cyprus and the Cyprus issue, where Turkey should return to the framework of a United Nations solution.
I think it is time Turkey changed course so that our peoples can live safely, peacefully, so that Turkey can join the new architecture of the region, and the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean can become seas of peace and cooperation.
Ladies and gentlemen MPs, allow me to close with this: I have been in this room for years. I am very well aware of the way tactics are shifting when the end of the parliamentary term looms on the horizon.
However, I call on you, as you have done so far -and I am addressing first and foremost the opposition parties- to resist the temptation of petty partisanship, much as the Mitsotakis government did from its very first day in power regarding the portfolio that the Prime Minister has honoured me to hold, namely the country’s foreign policy.
I call on all political forces to come together, with national reasoning and national interest as the common denominator. I call on you to demonstrate solidarity in the face of revisionism. I call for unity in the face of the real threat.
I call for solidarity in the face of the audacity of the casus belli, of the ideological constructs of the “Blue Homeland”, the ideological constructs of the “Ottoman heart”. I call for unity and solidarity because they constitute our effective national shield.
Thank you very much.