Dear Marise,
We are very happy for your presence here today in Athens, Greece.
It’s been 10 years since the last visit of an Australian Foreign Minister to Greece and we are very happy for the presence of the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Australia here today, who, by the way, also serves as Minister for Women and I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate her on the excellent work she has been doing to promote gender equality.
It is a field that for us, Greeks, is a high priority, both at home and abroad. Our meeting today, our extensive meeting, as well as the recent meeting of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis with the Prime Minister of Australia Scott Morrison on the sidelines of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Glasgow, demonstrate the close relations between the two countries.
Long-standing relations, founded on the unbreakable bonds of friendship forged between our two peoples. And we are, and I want to say that, particularly proud of the Greeks who immigrated to Australia, became a part of the Australian society and contributed to the progress and prosperity of their new homeland.
Besides, the presence here today of the Australian Ambassador to Athens, who is of Greek origin, constitutes a proud confirmation of that.
Our Diaspora in Australia is the solid foundation, the bridge for the development and strengthening of ties, not only of friendship, but of mutual understanding between the two countries.
Both the Minister and I have held in the past the portfolio of the Ministry of Defense. So, I cannot fail to mention the fact that our two nations fought shoulder to shoulder during the two World Wars.
Besides, the Minister had the kindness to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier before her arrival here at the Ministry.
And today, this year, 2021, apart from marking the 200 years since Greek Independence, we also celebrate 80 years since the important Battle of Crete. And Greece, the Greeks, do not forget the sacrifices of Australia, of the Australians, on the battlefields during the two World Wars.
Eighty years ago, Greeks and Australians fought side by side in the Greek mainland and Crete, defending democracy and freedom against totalitarianism and tyranny.
And 80 years after, despite the significant geographical distance between us, we continue to defend the same principles and the same values: democracy, human rights but also respect for International Law, and especially the Law of the Sea, the need for peaceful settlement of disputes, the prohibition of the threat of use of force, as is explicitly stipulated in the United Nations Charter; and of course, the full respect that each of us should have for the sovereignty and sovereign rights of other states. Unlike other countries, which insist on maintaining a threat of war, interfere in the internal affairs of other states and refuse to realize that the era of gunboat diplomacy belongs to previous centuries.
And of course, they conclude null and void, illegal agreements on the delimitation of maritime zones, which are based on ideological constructs that belong to the realm of fantasy rather than legality.
Moreover, at the same time, they challenge Model Agreements of International Law of the Sea, such as the Agreement on the delimitation of the Exclusive Economic Zone between Greece and Egypt.
And I’m very pleased with the way Australia regards the Law of the Sea and UNCLOS, because there is a broad consensus between us on this, as well as on the need to respect International Law.
After all, Australia’s commitment to the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea is reflected in a number of Agreements that you have signed, Madam Minister. I think the last one was with East Timor.
On our part, we have successfully resolved almost all bilateral issues with our neighbours, Italy, Egypt, while we have agreed with Albania to refer the same issue to the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
All these Agreements allow the unimpeded exercise of both our country’s and the other countries’ sovereign rights on the basis of International Law and the International Law of the Sea.
During our talks, I also had the opportunity to brief the Minister on the issues of the Eastern Mediterranean in general and on the destabilizing role of Turkey in the region.
We also discussed EU-Australia relations, issues concerning the Indo-Pacific region, a discussion which we will continue during the working lunch.
We agreed to strengthen our cooperation within international organizations as well, so as to jointly address current challenges, such as climate change and the coronavirus pandemic.
I look forward to working closely with Australia on issues of environmental protection, and I would like to say, on marine protection in particular, in which Australia is making huge efforts.
We are very pleased, and I have expressed this, about our cooperation within the United Nations, as regards candidacies and in particular the candidacies for the Security Council, where, as you know, Greece is campaigning for its election for the 2025- 26 term.
I thanked my dear colleague for Australia’s support, but I also asked her for Australia’s help as regards the Pacific countries, the Island Pacific countries, to which Australia obviously has much better access than we do.
I would also like to say that we are particularly happy for our mutual cooperation in the context of the election in categories A and B of the International Maritime Organization Council (IMO); as well as for our mutual support in candidacies for UNESCO. And I would like to take this opportunity to thank Australia very much for the support it has provided us in our election to the World Heritage Committee. I think it is a Committee in which Greece was rightly elected. We, in turn, supported Australia on the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission.
During our discussion, we acknowledged that there is huge scope for further improvement of our economic relations following the significant Australian investment in Greece in the electricity distribution network. We also look forward to harness investment opportunities in tourism, transport, energy, the green economy, manufacturing.
We also agreed that our first meeting after ten years, dear colleague, shall be the beginning of a series of close contacts between our two countries, a visit of the President of the Republic, a visit of the Prime Minister, our own meetings, also contacts between the legal and scientific staff of the two ministries on issues related to the Law of the Sea and the advancement of UNCLOS.
Once again, thank you very much for your presence today and your visit, which I have to say that my country and I have been looking forward to.
I warmly welcome you again.
