Athens grappling with day after
PM condemns Moscow’s ‘revisionism,’ insists gas supply assured as various scenarios discussed
As shock waves reverberated across the world after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine Thursday, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis condemned “revisionist actions and brute force which will unfortunately cause the loss of many innocent lives.”
After chairing a national security council meeting, he stressed that Greece respects the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of all countries.
“Historical revisionism by the use of arms must find against it the entire democratic planet. The responsibility of governments and the European family is being judged on this front,” Mitsotakis said.
He also assured that Greece, which imports 40% of its natural gas from Russia, has sufficient energy supply.
Mitsotakis, who was to attend the summit of EU leaders Thursday to discuss new sanctions on Russia and the energy issue, said the government is “working on scenarios which have to do with the biggest possible absorption of fluctuations in energy prices.”
To this end, Energy Minister Kostas Skrekas will convene an extraordinary meeting of the crisis management team to discuss ways to deal with the spike in energy prices.
Weighing in on the issue, spokesman Yiannis Oikonomou stated that the government is forced to “adapt its policies to the new data,” clarifying, however, that “energy adequacy has already been ensured and we are working on scenarios regarding the best possible treatment and absorption of price fluctuations.”
Meanwhile, provisions have been made for further supplies of liquefied natural gas and pipelined natural gas. To this end, the government will reportedly exhaust all the possibilities of the pipeline from Azerbaijan.
The crisis has further entrenched the view in Athens that the EU must make decisions that will provide a pan-European solution, something that Mitsotakis planned to raise at last night’s summit.
“We need European financial instruments to tackle energy price hikes,” a government source told Kathimerini.
At the same time, Athens believes that it will be able to convey the right messages to its partners about Turkey’s provocations, and that its violations of international law will now become more understandable. It is seen as no coincidence that Mitsotakis has denounced “historical revisionism” in his criticism of Moscow, as Ankara has been seeking to revise treaties with threats of force.
