FM updates Parliament Committee on foreign affairs
Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias gave a full briefing to the Standing Committee on National Defense and Foreign Affairs on Monday, updating them on all current issues including Turkey and its longstanding ‘casus belli’, Cyprus, the Balkans, the Eastern Mediterranean, and the United Nations. He also called on the Committee to show unity in these critical issues.
“We implemented an outward-looking foreign policy, grounded in international law and legitimacy. Our guide has always been defending our sovereignty and our rights. The championing of our national interests and universal values,” said the minister.
He stated that the government is not pursuing a confrontational policy with Turkey and is open to dialogue. However, he stressed that Greece is pursuing dialogue conducted based on international law.
“A self-evident condition of successful dialogue is the abandonment of the threat of war against Greece, the ‘casus belli’, and the acceptance of a framework of international law,” he said, calling the ‘casus belli’ a major issue. “It will have to go. We cannot accept the threat of war as a rationale for co-existence in the 21st century.”
Dendias also spoke of the role of Greece in the new security framework of the Eastern Mediterranean, and the deepening bilateral relations it has cultivated with Egypt, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and others like Bahrain and Oman. He also spoke of the important agreements Greece has signed with France, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
Finally, the minister also spoke of the developments in Greece’s nomination for membership on the United Nations Security Council.
“We have gathered 95 commitments so far and we are very close to an absolute majority. At the same time, there are no other contenders. There are two candidates, Greece and Denmark, for two spots and no third country is in the running,” he stated.
