Dear Jan, welcome to Athens. It would be my pleasure to welcome you under different circumstances, under normal circumstances, in order to examine, first of all, the prospects of strengthening our bilateral cooperation in all areas, but also the priorities of your Presidency of the Council of the European Union for the second semester of 2022.
Unfortunately, however, we are facing the greatest challenge that Europe has faced in the 21st century. Consequently, as might be expected, Ukraine was at the focus of our discussion today.
In this context, I had the opportunity to emphasize three key points; first, the need to protect civilians. We have already mourned victims among Diaspora Greeks in Eastern Ukraine and I warmly thank you for the feelings of sympathy you expressed to us.
As you know, we protested strongly to the Russian side about this and asked to allow the opening of humanitarian corridors in order to provide a way out to civilians who might want to leave.
And we make efforts, under very adverse conditions, to ensure the protection of Diaspora Greeks in these difficult times.
As I had the opportunity to tell you, about 150,000 Diaspora Greeks live in the wider area of Mariupol and their protection is a key priority for the Mitsotakis government.
That is the reason why I visited the region a few days before the Russian invasion. Also, the Greek Consular Missions stand by the side of both Greek citizens and Diaspora Greeks demonstrating a high sense of responsibility, even self-sacrifice I would say.
At this very moment, our third operation “Nostos 3” for the evacuation of Greek citizens is under way, this time from Mariupol, under the coordination of Ambassador Fragiskos Kostellenos, who participates in the operation for the evacuation escorting the motorcade.
The two previous operations, “Nostos 1” and “Nostos 2” concerned Kyiv and Odessa. Of course, I would like to point out that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had issued two announcements; one on February 14 and the other on February 22, advising Greek citizens to leave Ukraine immediately and also discouraging Greek citizens from travelling to Ukraine.
But in these difficult times I want to say that Greece is the only European Union country that keeps its Consulates General in Odessa and Mariupol open.
Our Consul General Mr. Dimitris Dochtsis is in Odessa and our Consul General Mr. Manolis Androulakis is in Mariupol.
And I would like to tell you quite honestly that I am particularly proud of our three diplomats who are in the danger zone and perform their mission demonstrating a strong sense of duty.
And I had the pleasure to convey to them the same feelings of the Prime Minister Mr. Mitsotakis and of the Greek Government.
In general, our position on the crisis in Ukraine is clear, it is a position of principle. We have always stood for and continue to stand for the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of all countries. It is obvious that, for Greece, Ukraine could not be an exception since this principle is a fundamental rule of International Law.
It is enshrined in the United Nations Charter, the same Charter which prohibits the use of force and the threat of use of force. Consequently, Greece, out of principle, as it has always done before, now also condemns the use of force wherever it may come from. It condemns the threat of use of force wherever it may come from.
We call for an immediate ceasefire and for the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Ukrainian territory.
But, my dear colleague, dear Minister, my dear Jan, I have to praise the Czech Republic. Because it is a country that fully endorses International Law. And I had the opportunity privately – but I would also like to do it in public – to quote the Czech Republic as an example of a country that has also ratified UNCLOS, that is, the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which indicates the Czech Republic’s commitment to the principles of the International Law, even if it is a country not bordering the sea.
I should like to return and state that, as is well known, Greece participates in the Euro-Atlantic institutions. We are therefore co-shaping, together with our European partners and NATO allies, our joint response and we will fully implement the decisions taken by all Europeans together.
And we call on all other countries, which maintain relations or aspire to become members of the European Union, to fully align themselves with the European Union, without footnotes, with no ifs or buts, in the effort to safeguard International Law and human rights.
The Czech Republic, of course, has a pivotal role to play, because in addition to assuming the next Presidency, it is geographically close to the region where developments are unfolding and has a deep understanding of this part of Europe and the world.
It was therefore very important for me to discuss with you and to be able to draw upon your experience. Anyway, tomorrow we are meeting again in Brussels twice, both in the Foreign Affairs Council and in the NATO Meeting.
We expect our US counterpart, Mr. Tony Blinken, to be present in both meetings.
Furthermore, both Greece and the Czech Republic have a common stance in various other organizations, such as the Council of Europe, where we voted together, more than 40 countries in total, to suspend Russian participation because we want to state in the clearest way that the EU’s relations with Russia go through respect for International Law.
Despite the climate of crisis, we also had the opportunity to examine our bilateral relations, their strengthening. I reiterate that we look forward to your Presidency, we look forward to the upcoming Czech Presidency of the European Union.
We discussed the Three Seas Initiative, our cooperation within this format.
We also discussed our cooperation in the field of economy.
We discussed in detail the energy issues that concern the European Union.
We also discussed civil protection issues on which we can work very closely together, as well as the broader issues of defence and the production or co-production of various weapon systems.
In any case, there is a Greek presence in the Czech Republic. It constitutes a bridge between our two peoples and I want to thank you, because very many Czechs choose Greece as their holiday destination every summer and this is yet another bridge between our countries.
I warmly thank you for your visit to Athens today.
