Dendias: International community experiencing revival of revisionism

The international community used to treat Turkey’s revisionism in the Eastern Mediterranean as a regional issue, however, corresponding practices now have a global dimension, Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said on Tuesday at the 26th Annual Economist Government Roundtable that is being held in Athens on July 5-7.

“We are witnessing an escalating aggressive rhetoric and more challenges in the field,” he said. “The entire international community is experiencing the revival of revisionism also as a theory, and much worse as a practice, either with a modern mantle, or with a neo-Ottoman mantle.”

The Russian invasion in Ukraine “is a turning point for European security,” he added at the event under the thematic title “Antitheses, transformations & achievements in a changing world.”

Moreover, “basic European and global principles, respect for territorial integrity, national sovereignty, and the fundamental rules of International Law, have all been turned upside down,” and that they are “no longer a given in Europe.”

He emphasized that the greatest challenge for Europe now is “to remain united, to overcome the challenges of energy and inflation … and to take together the decisions needed to protect its own external borders, and to continue to sanction those who violate International Law.”

On the sidelines of the 26th Annual Economist Government Roundtable, Dendias also had lunch with former US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, according to the ministry.

“Fruitful exchange of views on the Greece-US strategic relationship, developments in the Eastern Mediterranean and on the global implications of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” the ministry said in a tweet. 

Speaking at the conference, which is held under the thematic title “Antitheses, transformations & achievements in a changing world,” Pompeo said that “security is a condition for prosperity, and we have currently lost it,” adding that “we are in a global environment of extremely high challenges for both the geopolitical scene and the economy.”

In reference to Greek-Turkish relations, Pompeo said that “states historically have conflicts, but it is important to solve them through dialogue, without the use of force,” and he emphasized the need to strengthen dialogue at all levels between the two sides.

Referring to Greece-US relations, he noted that the US State Department’s Athens team promotes cooperation in defense, in energy and also in other areas.

He also underlined the significance of the Greece-US strategic partnership agreement, which he said “was made out in such a way as to make sense not only militarily, but also for the energy projects that are being developed in the region, and the ability to produce energy and transport it all across Europe.”

The Greek foreign minister also met with American Jewish Committee CEO David Harris, with whom they discussed developments in the Eastern Mediterranean and Ukraine following the Russian invasion.

[AMNA]