Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendias’ statement following his meeting with Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares Bueno (Madrid, 05.05.2022)

Dear José Manuel,

I am so glad to be here in Madrid today, following your visit to Athens last December.

And as you very rightly said, I have come again, so you will get sick and tired of seeing me in Madrid.
I have to thank you for your very kind and very warm reception.

Today, we focused on Ukraine, following the Russian invasion and we, both countries, reiterated that we condemn any act that violates international law and undermines the rules-based international order.

Such acts need response. They need a strong response; they need a unified response.

Greece and Spain, along with EU partners and like-minded countries, have supported Ukraine. And have imposed restrictive measures on Russia.

We call on those EU candidates that have not aligned themselves to do exactly the same as Greece and Spain do.

Also, we have to say that this aggression, the Russian aggression, is a strong reminder that revisionism is a major threat to international peace and order. It should not be tolerated or encouraged, no matter where it comes from.

We discussed as it’s understandable also, following the discussion on Ukraine, on the diversification of energy supplies.

We also addressed a wide range of other issues, starting with bilateral cooperation, which has expanded substantially over the past few years. And this has a lot to do, not just with our work, but with the work done by the Prime Ministers of our countries, Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Pedro Sanchez.  

We have many things in common: We are partners in the EU; we are allies in NATO; we are Mediterranean countries; we share the same values. We are democratic countries; we have a shared rule of law; we respect human rights; we are committed to uphold the principles of International Law, including the UNCLOS, to which all EU Member–States and the European Union are parties. And which specifically underlines that islands have full rights to sea zones, something that is dear to Greece and to Spain.

Also, we discussed our economic cooperation. There is concrete progress there: Spain is among the most important buyers of Greek products in the Eurozone, but also Spain is a very important investor in Greece.

Other sectors of our bilateral cooperation include people-to-people contacts, education and culture. We discussed expanding teaching of the Spanish language in the Greek educational system.

We are strong partners in UNESCO, especially with regard to cultural heritage. We both have plenty.

We have addressed cooperation in the EU, in view also of the Spanish Presidency of the Council of EU next year.

But also, as you rightly said, we addressed EUMED9, which is a very important forum, and your idea of enhancing it, brings us into total agreement.

We discussed the migration-refugee issue, I reiterated that the EU needs to stand unified against the instrumentalisation of migratory flows.

We reiterated our support for the Western Balkans’ European perspective.

We talked about the need to maintain and enhance NATO unity, on a 360 degrees approach -you were very right on that- given the current security situation and, also, in view of the Madrid Summit right next month.

I provided a brief of the recent unprecedented increase of Turkish violations of Greek airspace and overflight over Greek islands. I underlined that such provocative behaviour does not only contravene fundamental principles of International Law, but also undermines the cohesion of the NATO Alliance, when, exactly, it is most needed.

Last, but definitely not least, we discussed developments in North Africa, including Libya. I had the opportunity to present you with our ideas of leadership by Spain on this issue, where Spain has a historical presence.

I am also glad that today we have taken concrete steps in enhancing the ties between our two Foreign Ministries by signing two Memoranda of Understanding -and thank you for mentioning it- on Political Consultations, which are needed to understand the point of each other, and on Cooperation between our Diplomatic Academies. You have a very long diplomatic tradition, and we would like to be educated on this tradition.

I firmly believe that this will provide an impetus for developing stronger and deeper relations between our two countries, including new opportunities for more cooperation in international fora. Including the UN, where we have agreed to mutually support our candidacies for a seat at the UN Security Council.

Again, thank you so much for this fruitful discussion and your very warm hospitality.

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JOURNALIST: We have a two-month war in Ukraine, a Russian war in Ukraine. What is the message you are sending from here, now, Greece and Spain, about this.

N. DENDIAS: This is a conflict between two cultures’ values: the European value, which is cosmopolitan, human rights, democracy, rule of law, understanding between people’s societies and cultures and a different set of ideas, which means imposing based on my threat upon sovereign States and deny them their sovereign rights. We can only stand next to democracy, rule of law, territorial integrity and sovereignty.

And, please allow me to say, we have nothing against the Russian people. And we are big admirers of Russian culture, in music (e.g. Tchaikovsky), in poetry (Pushkin), in literature (Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy). That has nothing to do with what is happening today in Ukraine. That is against all the values the Russian culture represents.

So, for us, addressing any revisionism with our friends, allies and partners, within the EU and NATO both, acts as a guide next to our principles. There was no other way to address this phenomenon. We stand by Ukraine.