Greece condemns raw violence, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said at an emergency meeting of the National Council on Foreign Affairs and Defence, the second such meeting in a week.
He underlined that, “The Russian attack on Ukraine dramatically confronts the international community with its responsibilities, because the Ukrainian crisis is testing the limits of international law, the enforcement of [international] treaties, and the right of states to live freely. There are also threats to geopolitical stability in Europe and global energy balances.”
The PM said that Greece as at a matter of principle respects the territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence of all countries, and therefore without reservation condemns raw violence, due to which many innocents will lose their lives.
“For this reason, as a member of the European Union and NATO, we are coordinating with our partners so that we shall take joint action that will be commensurate with Russia’s unprecedented provocations. Naturally, we constantly have our attention turned to our fellow Greeks, especially in the area of Marioupol [Ukraine].”
“The government is adjusting its policies to the new realities as they evolve. On the national level, it has already secured its energy supplies, and we are threshing out scenarios that will absorb to the greatest possible extent the vicissitudes in energy prices,” he said
Mitsotakis described the energy problem as European-wide, that it demands a European-wide solution, and that this may require European funding tools in order to deal with energy price hikes as long as necessary.
The PM underlined that current developments highlight even more the need for a substantial and autonomous strategic autonomy.
“The international community has an opportunity to resist the force of arms and the disputing of borders and international treaties. Civilisation and the advances of the 21st century must not allow a return of the world to the conditions of violence of bygone eras and to armed resolutions of inter-state disputes. Our continent has in the past suffered greatly due to such approaches, and historical revisionism with the use of arms must be confronted by all democracies around the world. It is on that basis that the responsibility of governments, peoples, and the European family will be judged,” the PM concluded, noting that these issues will be discussed at an extraordinary EU summit today.
